


Little and Broken

by DarkJediQueen



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Canon Divergence, Cutting, First Time, Happy Ending, M/M, Self Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, suicide ideation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:41:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 33,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27346783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Stiles could have stopped it. He knew that he could have but what was the point. At least with this, he would feel something before he died.
Relationships: Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale
Comments: 37
Kudos: 336
Collections: Sterek Reverse Quickie 2020





	Little and Broken

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TwistedAmusement13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwistedAmusement13/gifts).
  * Inspired by [“Sometimes Quiet is Violent”](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/708781) by twistedamusement13. 
  * Inspired by [ART - Sometimes Quiet is Violent](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27355123) by [TwistedAmusement13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwistedAmusement13/pseuds/TwistedAmusement13). 



> **Year** : Post Season 3  
>  **Spoilers** : Up Through Season 4  
>  **Notes** : Canon diverges at two main points. One Derek never gives up his Alpha Spark as Cora gets better before she needs to be saved like that. And two Derek's attacked but Kate doesn't take him as Peter kills her, but better this time.  
>  **Beta** : ScarsLikeVelvet  
>  **Gift For** : twistedamusement13
> 
> For twistedamusement13 who made such a wonderful image for the Bang. I saw it and I had a few scenes pop in my head and I just had to write that story.

It was dark, and it was raining. It was not a horrible downpour, just enough to blanket everything in wet and make Stiles' mood turn sour. Though, Stiles figured that his mood had been anything but good for a long time. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for the light to change on him. He wanted to go home, even though the home was really the last place he wanted to be, but then he had gone over to Scott's only to have the door shut in his face. He had gone to the station next, but his father was busy, and while he tried to give him a little attention, he kept seeing his father looking at him like he didn't know him. He wasn't sure how he felt about any of it. Everyone was treating him like they were waiting for him to snap and kill them all. He wasn't sure that they knew they were doing it, but it wasn't helping his nightmares or trying to get toward something normal.

The light finally changed, and Stiles gunned the Jeep. He felt the Jeep fishtail a little, but he got it under control. It was a little thrill that he liked, one of the few things that weren't dangerous that he did to make himself feel anything. Feeling anything but sadness and guilt was a hard thing to get for him. Stiles took a hand off the wheel and laid it on his thigh before he gripped it tightly. He could feel the skin pulling on the scabs, and then it split again. The rush of pain and the endorphins that followed was what he needed. That was what he could do when he got home; he could get a new set going on his other thigh. He never did his arms at all, and his thighs were kept to the upper parts. He knew how to hide it. He had known for a long time after stumbling on a self-harm forum and listening to the ways that those who had done it for years hid how they did it. Stiles was pretty sure that those he read about would be upset that he was using that to do harm and not get help, but at the moment, he didn't care.

Stiles had a plan, and he could follow through with it. There were so few things that he had been able to follow through on in the last while.

He knew exactly when it had all started as well. It wasn't right after they had ended the Nogitsune's reign of chaos. No, it was in the days that followed. It was in Stiles waking up to a text from Scott that said his mother was working and that they weren't doing Thanksgiving. Then the look on his father's face at the fact that they had stuff for the sides but no turkey for themselves. Melissa always bought that. So Stiles had gone around to every single store that was open and finally found a raw turkey to cook for the evening meal. They always did Thanksgiving late after Noah got off of his shift, and before Melissa started her, and the leftovers went with her to work for everyone who was working as well.

There was only a single shop open in the evening when Stiles realized that they didn't have gravy makings. He drove by Scott's and found him there along with Melissa as well as Kira and her family. He had parked outside of the house and stared for ten minutes before he went to the store. When Stiles got back, he found his cell phone and was about to text Scott when his father's message was there that he was working all night long. Stiles spent the evening finishing everything since the bird was mostly cooked, and then he had dropped it all off at the station, leaving it on the desk without anyone seeing him leaving it. He had printed out a simple message thanking the Sheriff's deputies for protecting them.

After that, Stiles' father was back to working hours like he had before. Back when Stiles learned how to take care of himself and had started to figure out how to pay a lady to come in once a week and do the majority of the cleaning. Back to existing in the same house while his father spent time anywhere but where his son was.

Stiles pulled his mind away from that as he neared the area where he needed to pay more attention to driving as the road wasn't straight as it followed the path of the Preserve. He saw something in the distance but wasn't sure what it was. Probably just a car passing a crossroad or even just light reflecting off of a sign. It wasn't until he was taking an inside turn tight that he realized that it wasn't either of those things. It was a car coming at him with no headlights in his lane. Stiles tried to get away from it, but there was no slamming on the breaks in the weather that they were having. He felt the road give way into grass and then underbrush, and then it all dipped down. Stiles looked around where he was and then realized that this was going to be horrible no matter what, but if he stopped trying to stop it, it could all be over. He let go of the wheel and pressed harder on the gas as the Jeep went down the hill.

The pain was there when the Jeep finally stopped moving. He felt the blood on his head, and it dripped down his face as the rest of the pain registered, and then everything was going dark. Stiles hoped that he wasn't going to wake up.

* * *

Derek saw the car, and it was without headlights. He called the Sheriff's station with the license plate as well as a description and where the car was headed. He got into his car from the parking lot and followed behind, making sure to stay on the line to tell them when it turned. On the other end, the lady gave him the ETA of the Deputy who was on his way. Derek saw the headlights from the other vehicle that was coming at them just as he also saw the headlightless car make a wide turn. The other vehicle was taking it tight, but it wasn't enough. He watched it go over, he wasn't even sure what he said to the dispatch lady, but he left his phone in the SUV and rushed over to the edge. This area had the road staying up while the Preserve went into a ravine-like area.

It wasn't until he was looking down that he realized what his freaking out had stopped him from seeing. The baby blue of the color of the vehicle and the shape. A 1980 robin's egg blue CJ5 Jeep that belonged to one person. Derek ran back to his SUV and made sure that the dispatcher sent an ambulance and that the Sheriff's son was in the car that had gone over the side of the road. Then Derek was leaving his SUV again, rushing down the side of the hill that led him to where Stiles' Jeep was smashed into space between two trees, and it was what stopped him from going further down the hill, to the bottom where rocks sat. If the Jeep hadn't stopped, Stiles would have been dead.

Derek opened the door on the passenger side since Stiles was pressed to the glass of the driver's side door. The smell of blood filled Derek's nose, and as he tried to figure out what to do, there were other scents. Older blood, pain but not physical pain. There was no fear, no worry. Nothing that would have told him that Stiles had been scared while the Jeep had gone over the side of the road. This didn't smell like any other wreck that Derek had ever been at. He knew that something was wrong with Stiles, but he wasn't sure what it was. He would take his time to think about it all later. Derek crawled into the Jeep, and his fingers gripped onto the seat carefully. He could hear the thump of the heartbeat inside, and he heard the sirens getting closer. One of them shot past, and Derek really hoped that the Deputy was going after the idiot that had run Stiles off of the road.

"Hello!" a voice called out, yelling down the hill.

"Here!" Derek yelled back, putting his head out of the Jeep so that the sound didn't echo.

"How is he?" the voice asked.

Derek crawled back out of the Jeep and looked up the hill. He saw it was two different deputies, two that he didn't know all that well.

"He's alive. He's got a head wound and is unconscious. Do you have a neck brace?" Derek asked.

"Yes," one of them yelled before he took off.

Derek waited until it was tossed down. He got back into the Jeep and touched Stiles. He could feel that his neck wasn't injured; the pain was mainly in his head and a few other places, one of his thighs as well, and looking down with red eyes, Derek could see the blood seeping through the jeans. The Jeep jerked a little, and Derek knew that the ground under was giving with the water washing things away. The Jeep was gonna go with their added weight. He needed to get Stiles out of it if there was any chance of stopping it from going.

The sound of a big vehicle arriving had Derek frowning. He paid more attention to what he was doing, though, got the brace around his neck, and then made sure he was secure before slipping out with Stiles in his arms. He looked up to see that it was a wrecker. He could see the lights flashing. There were still only the two deputies up there. One of them was sliding down with the hook from the wrecker, though. Derek waited for him to hook it to the Jeep and then yelled up. Derek was going to wait until the wrecker had the Jeep secure before heading up. Just in case something went wrong.

"Can you get him up there?" the Deputy asked as he eyed Derek with Stiles in his arms.

"Yes."

The wrecker whirred to life, and the metal rope hooked to the Jeep tightened up until it was secure. Derek headed up the hill, not slipping once, his body knowing what a safe place to put his foot was and what wasn't while the Deputy behind him nearly face planted a few times. The ambulance was pulling up just as Derek got to the top of the hill. He didn't give the EMTs time to get the gurney out of the back and just stepped up inside when the doors were opened up. He listed the injuries that he knew about and even pointed out the blood on Stiles' thigh.

"The Sheriff is on his way to the hospital. He was too far away to make it here before. We will take care of him," the man in the back said as he strapped Stiles into the gurney so they could leave. Derek wasn't sure what he was going to do. He wanted to make sure that Stiles' Jeep was taken somewhere and fixed up. He would pay for it. He knew what it was like to cling to something so closely as Stiles did his mother's Jeep.

Derek waited around while the guy who had the wrecker got the Jeep out as carefully as he could, then Derek went through it, finding Stiles' phone and anything else he thought that the teenager might want. He stuffed it into Stiles' backpack and dropped that in his SUV before heading back.

"Where is this going?" the guy driving the wrecker asked.

Derek gave the guy the address of the man he had worked on his vehicles, and he texted him that everything was to go to Derek as far as bills went and that Derek wanted to keep as many outer parts as possible but make the Jeep safe to drive, no matter the cost. Derek figured the guy would be happy with that much money going to him.

"Insurance?"

"I'll pay. For it all." Derek got the cash out to pay for the tow as a good tip for the guy. He had been good at getting there quickly, even though Derek wasn't sure how he got there as quickly as he did.

"Hey, call the office and tell us how he is at some point, yeah?" the guy asked.

Derek nodded his head at that. He wasn't sure who the guy was, but he figured he would find out at some point.

The drive to the hospital felt like it took forever. Derek made sure to be careful as he drove. He parked in the emergency room area and then changed his mind. He went to long term parking. He walked around the building and into the ER, the first person that he saw was Melissa, and he was happy.

"Room eleven," Melissa said as soon as she saw Derek.

Derek went that direction, and he found the Sheriff slumped in a chair. Stiles was hooked up to the machine, and his heart was pretty steady.

"How is he?"

"They got him scanned and we are just waiting on the results. What happened? Dispatch said you saw it."

"I was following the guy as he was going without headlights. If I had known this was gonna happen, I would have run him off the road. I saw what was going to happen too late. I was more focused on the car with no lights that I didn't see it was Stiles' until he went over the hill. I wasn't sure what the hell was going on with the guy, but he kept going. I couldn't follow him, though. If there had been kids in the other."

"I get it. They got him, and they are telling me nothing. Melissa has already threatened to not let me back into the hospital if I try and leave. Parrish has that in good hands. I just..." Noah rubbed his hands over his face. He smelled worried and guilty.

Derek wasn't sure what was going on. He snagged the little notepad and pen on the stand beside Stiles' bed and started to list everything that he had smelled in the Jeep.

"Statement?" Noah asked.

"No. No. A list of things I was wanting to do. I don't want to forget." Derek didn't mind lying to Noah about this. Stiles shouldn't smell like he had and the blood on Stiles' jeans worried him. There were no rips on the jeans. That meant the wounds there were older. There was nothing going on. After the Nogitsune was gone, the world seemed to slow down for a little while.

Derek had dealt with Kate Argent nearly killing him again with the help of two Calavera Hunters. Kate had thought she won while Derek was slowly dying on the floor, but she hadn't planned for Peter. Peter, who had ripped her to shreds. The Calavera matron had paid well to get her two hunters back after they had failed to catch Kate when she had come after Derek as well.

The Calavera family was never to set foot in the United States again after that. It allowed them all to feel safe as it was the Calaveras who had made it a secret that Kate had been changed.

The list in his hand had Derek wondering what had been happening. He reached down into the bag he had brought in with him and snagged Stiles' phone. The screen wasn't cracked, thankfully. He looked at the messages and went all the way back to Thanksgiving. He found that there was a message from Scott on Thanksgiving day and then nothing after that. Telling Stiles that there was no McCall and Stilinski dinner like there always was. There were no messages from anyone else in the Pack. None from anyone that wasn't his father and even those were few and far between.

Derek looked up at Noah to find him looking at Stiles. Derek snagged his phone and texted Peter for him to snoop around the Stilinski house and figure out what was going on that had Stiles deeply depressed and at least passively suicidal. The words he got back told Derek that Peter was going to get right on that. Derek warned him about the accident and made sure that he didn't draw eyes on himself while stalking around the Sheriff's house.

"Sheriff?" someone asked.

Derek looked up to see a doctor standing in the doorway.

"This is one of Stiles' closest friends. It's fine to talk while he's here."

"There is some swelling in Stiles' brain; I'm going to get him started on some medicines to keep him in a medically induced coma while the swelling goes down. We are going to watch over him and make sure that we don't have to go in and make room."

Derek let the doctor's words as he explained the worst of what could happen with Stiles wash over him. There was a worry of an infection setting in from the wounds on his thighs and the wound on his head. Derek listened to the worries that the doctor had about everything. Stiles was going to be moved to the Neurointensive Care Unit and watched.

"We limit it to family."

"Then it'll be me, Derek, and Scott McCall."

Derek kept his mouth shut on that. Scott wasn't going to come around. Derek had stayed back because he hadn't wanted to invade what he assumed would be time for the two of them to commiserate over Allison's death, but it seemed that instead of that, Stiles was alone. The level of depression that Derek could smell on Stiles told him that Stiles was alone and more alone than he should be given what had happened.

Noah made sure the doctor could get a hold of him, but he had to get back to work.

"Mister Hale?"

"If I'm not here, my Uncle will stay in the family room on the outside of the NCU," Derek said.

The doctor raised his eyes on that. "You don't have anywhere to be?"

"Nowhere but here."

The doctor looked at a loss for his words, but he nodded his head. "We will take him up, and while we are getting him set up, you can take up in the family room. I'll send a nurse to you when it's time that you can join him. We will have a bed set up in the room with him so that you can stay all night when the Sheriff can't."

Derek kept the words to himself that he didn't think that the Sheriff would be staying the night. Or if he did, it wasn't going to be often. Derek would stay close, though, and it didn't seem that the doctor was going to keep him out.

* * *

Derek heard the uptick in Stiles' heartbeat and breathing. He looked at the machines that gave him both, and he realized that the doctor was wrong, and Stiles was waking up earlier than he said when they had dialed back on the medicines keeping him asleep. The Sheriff wasn't there as his shift wasn't done yet. Derek texted him that Stiles was waking up.

There was a cup of ice chips there that Derek had filled up not too long ago. He pulled them closer to him and waited to see what Stiles was going to be like. He had been in a medically induced coma for two weeks. Derek hadn't left too often, every other day to go home, and when he did, Peter was here to make sure that no one bothered Stiles.

Derek had left him fully alone once, and he had heard Melissa and Scott fighting at Stiles' bedside as Scott had been pissed off that Melissa hadn't told him that Stiles was injured, but Melissa had actually done good and not told him since Noah had told her not to. Melissa had been upset, but Noah had pointed out that Scott had told Stiles that Thanksgiving wasn't happening as Melissa had to work. Melissa had been shocked and had agreed to keep it quiet then. Derek could only assume that someone else had leaked the information to Scott about Stiles. Derek had ended up throwing Scott out through hospital security as he wasn't supposed to be there. Derek had then told Noah about it, and Noah had his own words to say. The only reason that Melissa was up there was the nurses had called her knowing who Scott was. It had still ended up a big issue.

Scott was fucking pissed at Derek, but Derek couldn't care less if he tried. Scott had his Pack and Derek had his own, which at the moment pretty much consisted of Peter and Stiles, but it was enough.

Stiles muttered something.

Derek got closer, sitting on the edge of the bed, making sure to not touch Stiles. He was still a huge bruise from being bounced around in the Jeep. He had been in his seatbelt, but it seemed that somewhere down the hill, it had snapped. That was fixed now. All of the seatbelts in the Jeep had been replaced. There wasn't anything in the Jeep that would kill Stiles by failing.

"Hey," Derek said, trying to pull Stiles out and let him know that he wasn't alone. He reached out and touched Stiles' forehead.

Derek wasn't sure how long it was before Stiles' eyes started to flutter. Derek pressed the button to call someone and waited. He was sure that his vitals were being watched, but he had no clue what range they were looking for before coming in.

"No," Stiles said.

"You are safe, Stiles," Derek said.

Stiles shook his head a little and then groaned. A nurse came into the room, and she pushed Derek out of the way gently. Derek moved back, and he watched as the nurse checked over Stiles before his heart rate went down again, and he was asleep. The doctor came in a few minutes later and checked over Stiles as well.

"He's fine. He might do this a few times as his brain fully wakes up, and the drugs leave his system. Just keep on alerting us when he wakes up. We will want to know that he's doing okay. A nurse will check on him each time, and then when he's more coherent, we can start the tests to see if any damage was done to him."

Derek nodded. The doctor had already told him that he did Stiles a service by getting him out of the Jeep before the EMTs got there. He had been careful, and no added damage was done. Stiles had nothing more than bumps and bruises outside of the head wound. Derek getting him out of there quickly made everything better with the TBI that Stiles had.

* * *

Stiles opened his eyes and found the room in lower light than the last few times he had opened his eyes. He found that everything was less confusing, but he wasn't happy to be awake. He wasn't happy about anything at all, really. He looked at the machines around him. He couldn't remember what each was, but he figured that turning them off wouldn't kill him. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. If he slept, no one would come and poke him. He had seen the same nurse several times, or he assumed it was the same. She sounded the same, but then his father didn't sound like his father, or he hadn't the last time that Stiles had seen him.

Movement told Stiles that he wasn't alone, but the sound was someone coming into the room. He didn't open his eyes; he just laid there. There was a soft sound, and Stiles was intrigued by it but didn't open his eyes. Then there was just breathing. He wasn't sure who cared enough to come and stay with him. Stiles hadn't seen what time it was, so he had no clue. The curtains were pulled, which fit with the darkness of the room.

Stiles wasn't sure, but he thought he fell asleep again and woke up when he smelled food. He opened his eyes and looked around to see that the room was dark, and it was Derek in the corner, eating dinner or lunch. It was a burger with fries. Stiles' stomach growled, and when it did, Derek looked up at him. Derek smiled at him, and it felt like something that no one should do to him.

"Hey," Derek said. He settled his food down and walked over to where Stiles was. He sat down on the edge of the bed and snagged something before holding out a spoon full of ice. "Thirsty?"

Stiles didn't want to answer, so when Derek pushed the ice chips closer, he kept his mouth shut. He was hungry. He was thirsty as well, but he didn't need this.

"Stiles, please," Derek begged. The spoon was still close to Stiles' lips, and the look on Derek's face made Stiles open his mouth. Derek smiled as he pushed the chips into his mouth.

"How long?" Stiles asked.

"Since what?" Derek asked.

Stiles frowned as he tried to think what else there could be except for the accident. He tried to think, but his brain was foggy.

"Accident," Stiles said.

"Just about three weeks. You were sedated for two of them, and it's been a week since they started to pull you out. They said it wasn't out of the ordinary as the brain does try and protect itself."

Stiles said nothing to that. Three weeks since he had nearly died, three weeks since he had wanted to die. He turned to look away from Derek. He wanted to be alone, but he couldn't say it. He didn't deserve anything at all. He closed his eyes and willed himself to go back to sleep. Usually, that was all he needed to do. However, it seemed his body was okay with him staying awake as it didn't come.

The spoon was pressed to his lips again, and he opened his mouth. The ice melting on his tongue felt good. He hummed a little. Even though it was just ice, just water, it tasted good.

"What do you want to eat? Soft foods and bland, so don't get crazy."

Stiles shrugged but didn't open his eyes.

"They took out the feeding tube this morning. Do you remember the oatmeal you had for breakfast?" Derek asked.

Stiles sighed, and Derek chuckled.

"Well, at lunch, you had chicken noodle soup. You might be able to get something like spaghetti if you want. I can see if you can."

"Not from here," Stiles said.

"No, not from here. Your dad is on his way. He's picking up his own dinner, and we can add on yours."

"Where is the burger from?" Stiles asked.

"Peter dropped it off to me. He likes to check-in."

"Why?" Stiles asked.

Derek said nothing, and Stiles opened his eyes again to see what was wrong. Derek was looking at Stiles like he wasn't sure who he was. Stiles understood that. He didn't know who he was anymore, either. He turned his head, and his neck ached a little at the movement. He knew that he would have some kind of therapy for not moving around for three weeks, especially with his head. He wasn't sure how long he would be bed-bound before he could move around to even think about therapy. He couldn't really remember about the process he was going to be going through. His mind was muddled, and he didn't like it.

"Spaghetti could be good," Stiles said.

"I'll text your father."

Stiles nodded his head and regretted that. It hurt like a son of a bitch. He closed his eyes again as he listened to Derek, texting, and then eating. Stiles wondered what he could go to get his guard dog off of him. He had no want to have him there much longer at all. Stiles just wanted to be left alone.

The bed dipped again, and Stiles opened up his eyes. Derek was back with the last few fries.

"I saved you the soft ones." Derek held the first out, and Stiles reached up for it. His hand missed the fry the first time, so he sighed and tried again, only this time he got it. Derek looked really pleased that Stiles wanted to throw the fry at him, but it smelled so good. He reached up with his other hand, broke off a small piece, and stuck it into his mouth. He tongued at it a few times and then chewed. He swallowed and found that it was easy to go down. His stomach revolted slightly but not a lot, and Stiles was sure that what took over was just sheer hunger. He broke off a larger piece and went right to chew this time. He ate all of the fries that Derek had saved for him.

Derek looked proud of him for doing it. Stiles felt shame for feeling happy that Derek was proud of him for something. Derek's face changed to worry.

"It's nothing," Stiles said.

Derek nodded his head and moved off of the bed. He walked over and snagged something before coming back. "Do you want me to read to you?"

"What?" Stiles looked at the Kindle that was in his hand. He had never seen Derek with a Kindle before. He wasn't sure what he thought about that. He knew that Derek was smart, but he hadn't realized that he liked to read enough to have a Kindle.

"You can't read on devices for a while, and unless I find you a large print book, most books are printed too small."

"What book are you reading?"

"Well, I have a lot of books here. It thought that I could list off some until we found one that you wanted to read."

"Any Star Wars books?"

"I do have many. Heir to the Empire?"

"I love Thrawn. Yeah."

Stiles closed his eyes as the headache was coming back a little, and Derek moved off the bed and pulled a chair over to sit beside the bed. His tone was soft as he started to read. They didn't get very far at all before the door was opening, and the scent of his father's aftershave told Stiles it was him. He opened his eyes up and looked at his father. Noah looked older than he should. Older than he had when dealing with all of the deaths around the Nogitsune. Stiles wondered what had happened to make his father worry so much. If things were that bad, he shouldn't be here. Derek could have gone out and got his food.

"Stiles," Noah said, and he sounded gutted. "Do you not want me around?"

"What?" Stiles asked.

"You said that out loud," Derek said.

Stiles turned his head to look at Derek, very slowly so that his headache didn't worsen. "No."

"Yes. Your father is worried about you. Nothing is going on in the county that has him worried. Just you."

"Oh," Stiles said. He looked at his father and tried to understand. His father hadn't been all that worried about everything after the Nogitsune, but then Stiles was moving around again. He was faking it until he could make it. He was in a hospital now.

Noah handed over a bag of something to Derek, who took it while he slipped onto the bed beside Stiles. Noah reached out a hand and rubbed at Stiles' face. "Son, I'm sorry."

"You have-" Stiles was cut off but Noah's other hand covering his mouth.

"I have a lot to apologize for. I went right back to working long as hell hours, and that's on me. I did what I always did because you seemed fine. I didn't learn until I talked to Melissa that we were just not invited to Thanksgiving by Scott. She had a place for us and everything. I kept my mouth shut at first, and then Scott came in and was pissed that I hadn't told him that you were hurt. Then it all came out Melissa is mighty pissed at Scott right now."

Stiles opened his mouth to say something, but his father's hand dropped over his lips again. He glared at Noah, and all he did was glare back. Stiles slumped into the bed again, crossing his arms and pout at Noah, but his arm got caught in the IV coming off him. Derek helped him untangle it and laughed a little.

"You were not fine, and this time, you didn't have anything to help you grasp that nothing that happened the last while is your fault. That thing could have gone into Allison or Scott. From what I understand from Peter, it went after all three of you, but you were it's preferred victim. Chris and Peter had talked, and after it was found out what happened, Chris talked to both Scott and Allison. It barely went after them. It wanted you, Stiles. You are not at fault at all. You didn't kill them."

Stiles opened his mouth, but this time it was Derek who covered his mouth. He resisted the urge to lick that hand.

"You didn't kill them, and I'll tell you that as many times as it's needed for it to sink in."

"You don't blame Jackson for the deaths that happened when Matt and Gerard were in charge of him, do you?" Derek asked.

Stiles shook his head as Derek still had his hand over his mouth.

"I thought not. This was no different, though; instead of someone just controlling your body, they were inside of it at the same time. So yeah, you are not at fault for anything. You weren't even being controlled when Allison was killed by an Oni. He was all in that copy body. YOU ARE NOT AT FAULT!" Derek said strongly.

Stiles slumped into the bed again. He hadn't realized how tense he had got during his father talking. He just wanted to have them leave, but the smell of dinner was too good. He was hungry. He looked at the food that Derek had laid on his legs.

"Hungry?" Derek asked.

Stiles nodded.

"You don't talk about anything but food and Star Wars, and we can see about feeding you."

Stiles looked at his father and saw him grabbing a box. It opened up to show that he was eating a burger, but the meat on it looked like it was turkey. Stiles raised an eyebrow at Noah.

"My blood pressure is not doing the greatest at the moment, and so I am doing what I can to take care of that. No salt and not as much red meat. I wanted a burger, though, and since you wanted spaghetti, I hit the diner."

Stiles wondered how long it was going to last. He'd said that before. When his blood pressure had started to rise each time he went to the doctor. Stiles looked at the spaghetti that Derek was cutting up so that it was small strands of noodles. The smell was good, better than anything, really. Derek laid the fork down and then moved the tray over to where Stiles could eat. He thought about it and pulled it away again before helping Stiles sit up in the bed.

"Why hasn't the doctor come around?" Stiles asked.

"He's been around. Cognitively, you are doing good. There might be stretches where you don't remember when coming out of the coma you were in, and that's kind of normal." Noah didn't sound upset or worried at all.

"Like breakfast this morning?"

"Yes, he was here with you this morning. We have things to look for as far as warning signs. He drilled them into us."

Stiles felt the room move a lot more than he was used to when he was up and moving to sit up all the way. He needed the bed up higher. He waved for Derek to do that. Derek hit the button, and the bed came up all the way. Stiles leaned back into it, and the world stopped spinning. When he could, he snagged the fork, but when he tried to dig it into the food. It just didn't work. He missed a lot or got too much.

"Stop," Derek said softly.

"Fuck you," Stiles said, and he leaned forward.

"You are getting upset," Noah said.

Stiles ignored his father and tried to get closer to his food and get it into his mouth that way. He frowned when he couldn't do it. He tossed the fork down, and he felt tears on his face. He reached up and brushed at them, but all that did was make more. He closed his eyes as he didn't want to see them. He didn't want to see anyone.

"It's okay," Derek said.

"It's not fucking okay!" Stiles yelled. He reached how to shove at the food, but Derek caught his wrist.

Derek was so gentle with it. He didn't hold hard enough to bruise, just enough to stop Stiles.

"Your brain is still messed up, Stiles," Noah said. He moved to sit on the bed again, forcing Stiles' eyes to him. He reached out and cupped the side of Stiles' face. "You are going to need help for a while, and that's okay. It's okay. You helped your mom a lot in the end when she needed it. This is no different. Your body is going to be healing for a long time. Six months before, you will be anywhere near normal. It could be years even before you are fully you again."

Stiles wished he had died. He didn't want to force anyone to have to take care of him. They would hate it. Hate him. He would figure out how to make sure that no one had to care for him.

"I'll feed you since I've already eaten."

Stiles just needed to get through the first few days, then he could take care of himself. He would make sure that he could. He could have all of the groceries delivered; it would mean shopping at the store that he didn't like as much, but at least they didn't charge for doing that kind of thing if one bought enough. He could do it. The library deliveries, he could get audiobooks to entertain him. He could do it; he knew it.

* * *

Derek watched Stiles sleep and thought about what the teen was planning.

Noah had gone home to sleep, but Derek was staying. He had the bed in the room with him, and so far, Stiles hadn't asked about it. He probably didn't notice it, really. Stiles had given in too easily, and despite what Stiles thought, Derek had smelled his fear at having to rely on anyone else to take care of him.

"How is he?" Peter asked as he slipped into the room.

"Not good. He's scheming at the moment, and I know it. I just don't know what he is scheming about. He didn't like it when Noah talked about him needing help. He's going to do something stupid, and it's going to hurt him."

"Well, I went by his place as you know, and I told you that I wasn't going to tell you anything until he was awake. He's been awake for a week, but...his room is horrible, Derek." Peter slipped fully into the room and took a seat at the end of Stiles' bed.

"You said you were worried about me doing something stupid."

"I still am but less since you don't want to leave him, even to shower."

"I shower."

"Yes, in the staff lounge when Melissa can sneak you in there. His bedroom smells like someone who is in a deep depression spiral. Even now. I went by to see what books he reads so you can download a few more."

"Peter, he is suicidal, at least passive. He didn't do anything to stop himself. There were no smells of fear in his Jeep. He just...let it happen and didn't even get scared or anything."

"Sounds like someone else that I know," Peter said.

Derek growled at him, flashing his eyes. Peter didn't look cowed, which Derek knew he wouldn't.

"Cora is worried about him. After he risked his life to get her out of the hospital and then figured out how to save her, she's sweet on him."

Derek knew that. He was glad that they liked each other. He felt like shit that he had kept Cora away. He thought that Noah and Scott were caring for Stiles.

"Scott's a shit Alpha," Derek said.

"You weren't the greatest at the start, but at least you tried to care for your whole Pack."

"He blames Stiles for Allison's death. He could tell that, and no one is calling him on it. Not even Stiles."

"Because he feels it's his fault. Who else does that kind of shit?" Peter asked.

Derek glared at his uncle. He knew exactly what Peter was getting at, though. It was going to be up to Derek to get through Stiles' shell.

"He's not going to be allowed alone. Once they do a psych test on him to make sure that mentally he's good to release, they will see what we do. He's going to not actively seek to kill himself, but he's not going to stop it either. I'll get the loft taken care of. Get the upper three bedrooms fully fitted out. The larger room can have two beds. You can stay there with him. Cora will make sure and help as well, then she and Noah can take the other two rooms. I'll stay over to give you a break when you need to go shopping since you know that Cora would give in to him. That way, the good Sheriff doesn't realize that we don't trust him with his own son."

"Underhanded."

"He's Pack, Derek, no matter what he thinks. You know this, and you've known it for a while. There is something behind him looking at you as an Alpha more than Scott."

Derek nodded his head. He knew that he did. He just didn't want to admit that he knew it. He didn't want to admit that he was taking Stiles away from Scott. Though, with everything that was going on at the moment, Derek was pretty sure that Scott was pushing him away on his own.

"Does he know about Kate?" Peter asked.

"I have no clue. I didn't tell him."

"Of course you didn't," Peter said.

"Oh, fuck you."

"I mean that if you had, he would have been around. He worked it all out, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I figured that out when he told me that Jennifer was my second girlfriend to go nuts and kill people. I still hold that both of them were nuts before me. I was just a means to an end."

"Well, yes, but they still targeted you for a reason. I regret that I was away as much as I was after Paige. I thought that your mother was taking care of you, not isolating you. I still don't understand why she didn't tell anyone why you had blue eyes." Peter flashed his blue eyes at Derek.

Derek knew that he regretted the deaths he had done while crazy, at least two of them. He still wasn't sure about the nurse that he had ended up killing first. Peter didn't like to talk about his time while in the sort of coma. Laura and the janitor, Peter, regretted. The janitor was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and too close to the action. Derek wondered which death he felt worse for. Derek couldn't fault Peter for killing Laura, even if he knew that it was her instead of some random Alpha. Derek had never known that Peter was under his own name until he had gone to visit him. Kate Argent could have come in at any point and killed him without anyone knowing. The Argent's had enough money to just do what they wanted and paid off many people. The spiral of her crimes was still being worked out by the FBI. Derek knew that they were going to be studying her for a long time. Derek had found the courage and gone to the one agent assigned it and told him about how she had gotten into his house. Everything. To see if it was a pattern that she had done before.

"Getting the loft better would be good and a great help. I need...the Sheriff will have to approve of allowing his underage son to stay with two adult males."

"Well, he's only got four months until he's eighteen, so it's not like he's going to grow and mature all that much more from where he is. He probably won't be allowed to make decisions for a little while after he's eighteen without his father approving them."

"What?" Derek asked.

"Well, until he's medically cleared, the doctor's won't allow him to be released to where he can make decisions on his own."

"No, the eighteen thing."

"He turned seventeen the night that Gerard kidnapped him and tortured him in April. I looked at his school record and saw his age when I was crazy. Scott didn't even know I was in the school. Though to be fair, I didn't smell like Allison."

"Scott just turned seventeen; why is Stiles in the same year as him?"

"His school record has him repeating the fifth grade, and that's when he got into the same year as Scott. That was 2004 when his first fifth-grade year started. It didn't state a reason, but he had many absences in the year before that, more than normal, really, but then they stopped. The only note about the repeated year was that he didn't do assignments. I don't know what happened, but given what we do know..." Peter trailed off.

"His mother. Noah said something about Stiles helping his mother with things. Something about in the end when she needed it." Derek wasn't sure that Peter knew about the scan that Stiles had about his brain and its meaning. Derek didn't know what it meant either, but he had heard Noah talking. He had left it alone as it wasn't his place to look into it. Now though, he wondered. He wondered what was hidden away in things that Derek didn't want to touch.

"Derek, do you want me to look into it?" Peter asked as his eyes looked at Stiles' face again. He looked like he was asleep, which was good. Stiles wasn't sleeping the greatest. Derek didn't like it, but he knew that Stiles needed to be here. He needed to be where any issues with his brain could be taken care of easily.

Stiles was his brain. To him, it was all that mattered. Derek liked him for his heart. He wanted to let Derek die but never had, even when it meant cutting off Derek's arm. He had kept Derek up in the pool, and while he had bitched about it, he had been willing. It was afterward that Derek had realized just how Stiles saw all of them. The Argents were the monsters and not the Hales, not the Werewolves. Stiles didn't look at any of them as monsters, not even Peter.

Peter and Stiles were more like each other than Derek thought they were, and it wasn't the Nogitsune that had been in him that matched him to Peter.

Derek had wondered if that darkness had been why the Nogitsune had chosen Stiles, but Allison had that same twisted darkness inside of her. The Nogitsune had gone for the person that it thought would be the easiest to hide in. It had hidden for quite a while, but Stiles had known, and no one had listened to him. He had issues, but then there was no belief.

"He used to sleepwalk," Derek said

"Yes, I heard about that when he went missing that one time. Sleepwalk and panic attacks. That had to be after the death of his mother. I will be discrete in what I do. I won't dig further than I need to. I do not want to incur his wrath. I feel that Stiles could be just as horrible as I could be if crossed."

Derek agreed on that. He knew what Stiles had done in the past when he was crossed. Stiles' love for Scott had stopped him from making decisions that would harm Scott too much, but now Derek didn't think that would hold. Scott had hurt Stiles and the Sheriff by lying to them about Thanksgiving.

"Do you think he's going to forgive Scott for this?" Derek asked.

"I have no clue. He's clung to Scott since his mother's death."

"How do you know that?"

"I heard them. Scott has a panic attack, and Stiles helped calm him down by making him think he was having an asthma attack, and it helped. Scott asked him how he knew. Stiles said he had them after his mother died. I didn't know until then that they hadn't been friends since birth. I know Scott tries to make it seem like it's...what do they say, ride or die between them. Scott's not been his friend as long as we thought."

"No, he's not," Cora said from the doorway. She looked at Stiles on the bed. She shut the door as she entered.

"How do you know?"

"Because before Scott was Jackson and Danny," Cora said.

"What?" Derek tried to understand how, given how Jackson seemed to hate Scott.

"Something happened not long after Stiles got held back a grade. I never figured out what it was from talking to Stiles after I got better. You know me, I liked to stay in the shadows at school. Anyway, I saw a lot and from what I know from a few friends I reconnected with a few weeks ago. It was suddenly Scott and Stiles instead of Jackson, Danny, and Stiles. Stiles was a year above us, but he liked those two, and then when he was in the same grade as us, he was still a little weird back then but more subdued. I think that Scott didn't have many friends, so when Stiles made friends with him, Scott kind of took over. Jackson and Scott didn't get along, and Jackson had other friends, and then it was all Scott and Stiles."

"Shit," Peter said.

"Call Jackson. I know that you hooked him up with a Pack in London, Derek. Call him and talk to him. Figure out the best way to help Stiles without alienating him."

Derek nodded his head. He did have a way to contact Jackson. It was also a good thing that Jackson had kind of gone through the same thing. Derek could get him to reach out to Stiles. He couldn't make Stiles talk back to him, but he could at least do that. He could maybe draw Stiles back. If Jackson was willing.

"And Danny?"

"He wouldn't hurt to call him in on this. Just don't take his shit. Jackson and Danny never did. There is a reason that Stiles' mom was never brought up in school, even after Jackson and Danny stopped being friends with him."

"I did wonder about that. Especially given how horrible it got from what I heard before my resurrection," Peter said.

Derek nodded his head. Kids went after the weak points, and Stiles' mother's death had to be one of the worst. For bullies, it was the best and worst kind of ammunition.

"It happened just before the Sheriff got elected, like that summer or something. I don't remember much. The shit happened with the Alphas all being in town, and Paige died, and then she died, and Stiles kind of checked out. Then we were nearly killed. January had seemed like it was going to be a good month."

Derek got up from his chair and waved for Cora to sit down, but she walked over to the bed and laid down on it instead. She looked like she wasn't going to leave.

"Derek, go for a run. Peter and I will stay here. Go for a run, feel the moon."

"You bullied the Sheriff into going home telling him that Stiles would hate him hurting his back would upset Stiles. Which yes, wasn't a lie but come on, Derek. Just go running. I'll go back to the loft after that."

"I'll go with you, Lil Bit," Peter said.

"Why?"

"Stiles will be moving in with you and Derek. So you and I will be getting the bedrooms all fully set up so we can convince the Sheriff that Derek is a real adult that should be trusted with his son."

"And he wants to stay in the loft to do that?"

"It's the only place that would fit all of us. My apartment is too small, but if the Sheriff is upset with Derek's abode, I guess everyone can move in with me for the time being. Let's try out the loft first, though. It's protected enough for the time being."

Derek let the words of them wash over him as he headed out of the room. They would protect Stiles. He knew that. 

* * *

Stiles opened his eyes and looked around. He wasn't home, and he knew that. He remembered falling asleep in the SUV with his father after being discharged. He was ready to go home, but he wasn't sure where he was. He tapped his fingers. One, two, three, four, and five before looking at his hand. He had just five fingers. He looked around a little more as he sat up in the bed. He was covered up with good blankets, but he wasn't sure where he was. It looked a little like the loft that Derek lived in, but it was...different. There was a second bed, and it looked like someone had slept in it the night before. 

There were no sounds, but then Stiles wasn't shocked by that given how large this room was, and the door was shut. He looked around and found that there was a dresser close to his bed. He lifted the covers to find he was still in the sweats and t-shirt he had been wearing when leaving the hospital. He was glad of that. He got up, taking his time as he did. He didn't want to fall down. He was a little dizzy, so he sat down again. He knew that things would be off for a while. He wasn't allowed to be alone at home for a few weeks, at least.

Stiles was worried about his dad taking that much time off of work. He wondered if he got everything set up in his room if his father would leave him alone while he went to work. His father needed to work. He didn't need to worry about Stiles. 

A voice talking got louder, and Stiles realized that he was on the second floor or even third of whatever place this was. It wasn't Derek's loft, even if it looked like it. The second floor of Derek's loft was full of random ass junk from things that Stiles was sure had come up and died while leaving behind all of their possessions. 

The door opened, and it was Derek entering.

"Thought you were awake, ready to go down?"

"I thought that the upstairs of your loft was a hazard?" Stiles asked.

"It was. Peter and Cora got it all cleaned up and ready to go."

"Why are we here?" Stiles asked. He dodged Derek's hand when he reached over to help Stiles up off of the bed where he had dropped after he had got dizzy. 

"Stiles, your father, is downstairs, and he would like to talk to you."

"Tell me what the fuck is going on right now, Derek," Stiles demanded.

Derek's head turned like he was trying to hear things better, and he sighed before making noise. 

"Your father is on his way to talk to you." 

Stiles glared at Derek. He assumed that either Peter or Cora had told his father what he had just said.

"Stiles," Noah said as he came into the room. He wasn't dressed in work clothes, which was what he had been in when he had picked up Stiles from the hospital. 

"Dad, I want to go home," Stiles said. 

"You can't be alone; the doctor said that to you, and you agreed."

"I would have said anything to get the hell out of there. Dad, please. I don't-"

"No." 

Stiles shut his mouth as his father interrupted him. 

"Derek has offered his loft for you and me to stay in while you get better. I can't take off that much time at work, not so close to everything that happened recently. Between the three of them, they can help watch you. Derek's offered his guest room for as long I want it, and you can stay in here."

"Where is here?"

"Here is Derek's room." 

Stiles looked at Derek, who was still standing at the side of the room. He wondered how Derek had talked his father into this. This was shit. He wasn't going to get time alone after this. Derek would always be listening to him. Peter would be there, and Cora, he was stuck in a place he would never be alone, not truly. Cora, he might be able to escape from, but he doubted that he was going to be left alone with her. 

"I don't want to share a room with him. Make him sleep over there," Stiles said, waving his hand at the bedroom across the way. 

"Stiles, he's opening up his home to us, do not piss him off."

Stiles looked at his father and saw that he had his stern face on. He wasn't going to budge on that. Stiles would just have to do his best to get better so he could go back to his house and just be alone. He would have to socialize here. It wasn't like Cora or Peter would leave him alone. Derek would be his usual asshole self and never leave him alone as well. 

Huffing, Stiles laid down and rolled himself up in the blankets, covering his head. He was tired, and he just wanted his bed. He grabbed a pillow and pulled it under his head, finding that it was his pillow. He huffed again and ignored the sound of his father talking to him. Finally, the sound died down to where there was nothing. Stiles still didn't move. He just stayed in his blanket burrito and ignored everything around him. 

* * *

Derek heard the rocketing of Stiles' heart rate before he heard the first scream. Derek looked at Noah to see him jump from the sound. It looked like it was a shock. Derek raced to the stairs and took them four at a time, pushing himself higher and higher. The bedroom door was open, just like it had been left when Noah had finally given up getting Stiles to listen to him.

Stiles wasn't screaming anymore, but the time Derek got into the room. He was sitting on the bed with the blankets a mess all around him. His eyes were fixed on a point on the wall, and Derek looked there for a second with both his human eyes and then his Alpha eyes. There was nothing there—no trace of a single thing.

"Please, don't kill me. Please. Please, Allison, don't."

"Fuck," Derek said. He heard Peter grabbing Noah to stop him from rushing the bed where Stiles was. Stiles was looking at the wall still, tears streaming down his face. He was scratching at his arms. He had been doing so for so long that they were bleeding. Derek rushed over and snagged Stiles' hands to stop him from doing it more. "Stiles."

"No, please, don't, Ally, please." Stiles was begging, his voice hoarse already from the screams.

Derek gave up trying to snap Stiles out of it; he moved around to sit behind him and just held on. He rocked them as Stiles begged and pleaded for Allison not to hill him.

"It wasn't you, Stiles. You didn't kill her. She's not angry at you. Stiles, please," Derek said. He started up his own mantra, the same things over and over again. Nothing was breaking through, though. He wasn't sure if anything would break through. He just kept on rocking them and talking, keeping Stiles' hands in his own until Stiles had worn himself out so much that he sagged in Derek's arms.

"Stiles," Noah said.

Derek looked around to see that Peter and Cora were standing in the doorway like they would stop Stiles if he rushed that way. Stiles had nothing left in him, though. He felt as weak a kitten even to Derek. His body was in horrible pain, and Derek drained what he felt was right.

"Peter, get the medical kit that Melissa got for us," Derek asked, his voice soft.

Noah was on the bed now and sitting in front of Stiles. Derek wasn't sure what Noah was seeing. Stiles wasn't asleep; he was just staring.

"They said he had strange wounds on his thighs; he was cutting himself, wasn't he?" Noah asked.

"Yes," Derek said.

Cora hissed.

"I didn't want to believe it."

"I knew it the moment I found him in the ravine. He smelled of blood and what was on his legs was fresh, but his pants weren't ripped."

"He's not doing well at all, is he?" Noah asked.

"No, I don't want to alarm you or anything, but no, he's not doing good."

"Which is why you all but railroaded me into living here."

"He's good at getting himself alone. All he needed was you going to work, and then he would start to build up that wall. You love him, and you want to see him happy, so you will make yourself believe that as well."

"Derek," Cora said.

"No, Cora. He needs to know. There was no point in trying to force him to see it before he was ready."

"Here, let me in," Peter said.

Derek looked at his Uncle to see the kit in his hand. It was stocked by Melissa for them. She had made sure that they would have everything they needed to care for his head and what she knew he was doing to his thighs. Derek doubted that she could see this, though.

"Is he still on antibiotics?" Peter asked as he gripped and tugged Stiles' arm out of Derek's hold.

"Yes, he still has a few days on them. I'll talk to his doctor and tell him that he cut himself with his nails during a night terror. We can easily take care of him from here out, and putting him on a psych hold will just set him back."

"Not Eichen," Derek said.

"No, Eichen's already getting too much of my money for that. I would never put him back in there," Noah said.

"Come closer, Cora," Derek said. He looked at his sister, who was still in the doorway. "He's not getting out of my arms."

"What's wrong with him?" Cora asked.

"Be a little more specific."

"He's...not responding."

"He's asleep. The night terror and then his little episode seeing a dead girl made him pass out. He's breathing just fine, and I'm not worried about his passing out." Peter reached out with his clean hand and rubbed at Cora's head; he pulled her close to him. Cora relaxed against him as he worked on putting gloves on his hands. He worked on cleaning up Stiles' arm and then moved to the other one. None of them talked as Peter did that.

"How are you so good at that?" Noah asked.

"My brother was human," Derek said.

"He had ADHD like Stiles, and he was always hurting himself. His father used to joke that he didn't need to learn how to fight Werewolves; he just needed to know how to stop losing a fight against the end table." Peter's tone was soft and hesitant. They hadn't talked about Spencer much at all.

Spencer was one of the reasons why Kate could have all of her talk of taking out beasts, but Spencer was not only a child but a human. Chris had begged for forgiveness for that when he had finally fully gotten his head out of his ass during the Alpha Pack shit.

"No wonder you all handle Stiles."

"Yes," Derek said. He looked down at Stiles' face, he looked peaceful, but that would only last as long as he was not deeply asleep. The night terrors were going to be there for a while.

"Cora, go and get some hot water into the bowl I have in the bathroom. There is a bottle of the stuff on the counter that has the words restful written on them. I want you to shake that up and then put ten drops in the water. Only fill the bowl halfway. Then get the soft rag. Derek's soaked."

"I know. I was going to strip him down to boxers. With your permission, Sir."

"Yes. Whatever he needs."

Derek and Peter got him down to just his boxers when Peter used some of the kit's wipes to clean the blood off of him.

"I love him, but even I know I've not been the best father that I could have been. I traded alcohol for working too much just to cope. Nothing that you tell me is going to make me think any differently. I don't want to lose him, not to his own mind or his own guilt."

"I have reached out to Jackson," Derek said.

"Whittemore?" Noah asked.

Derek nodded.

"He was the Kanima, right?"

"Yes."

"And he can help Stiles?"

"I don't know. He's been doing well with the Pack in London. I was hoping over his school's holiday break, I could convince him to come back here. He has killed before, and he had guilt for that. First, with Matt Dahler controlling him and then with Gerard. He can, I hope, talk to Stiles about how he is feeling. It would be better than anyone else."

"You were used to kill Boyd," Cora said. She was setting down the bowl of water that Peter had asked for. The water smelled of essential oils. Derek had seen it in the bathroom after Peter had gotten it stocked, but he hadn't paid any attention to it.

"Not the same. Stiles doesn't have the memories. Jackson doesn't either. How do you rectify knowing that you were forced to do something and have no memory of it? It changes you, that first kill," Peter said.

"His mother used to tell him that he was going to kill her," Noah said.

"What?" Peter asked.

"Before she died, when she was in the grips of her dementia, she thought that Stiles was some kind of changeling and was going to kill her and me. She screamed it at him for hours one time as he locked himself in the bathroom. I came home to it. That's when I put her into the hospital until the end. He wasn't doing well with it at all. I put him into therapy then, but I think that it and then my drunken escapes just cemented it."

"You told him the same thing, didn't you?" Peter asked.

"I never handled her death well at all."

"Back on Lydia's birthday, when Peter was part of the control of her mind, she said that people got high and or drunk from something she spiked the stuff with. A few people talked to her about seeing their worst fears. She never got it out of Stiles what he had seen. She just assumed it was something about his mother, but I heard him once talking to a dog on the street," Derek said.

"It was me, wasn't it? Drunken ravings? That's what one of my Deputies told me. He was coming over to bring a file I had left at the office that I was going to look at over a three day weekend. He heard me yelling at Stiles while I was drunk. Then the next day that I went to work, they were all there. They were going to take it up with the mayors of Beacon Hills and Beacon City if I didn't get myself straight. They would make sure that I was forced out of my job by the powers that be, and then where would I be with my son? I went to an AA meeting the next day. I can't say that I have never drunk since then, but I don't drink near as much as I used to."

"And your job helps you stay sober," Peter said.

"Yes. I fully admit that I replaced alcohol with my job. It was never more a slap in the face when I learned everything that was really going on. He was able to hide all of this from me. He adopted a Pack of Werewolves, and I never knew it."

Derek didn't have much to say about that. He was still holding Stiles in his arms as Peter tried to get most of the sweat off of him, using water that just had a few fragrances in it. He knew that it was all meant to help calm Stiles down, and Derek was happy about that. It covered up the scent of fear that was still clinging to Stiles. He wasn't sure that he would ever get that scent out of his nose. It was worse than the scent of him after he had been found in the woods.

"He's going to be sore when he wakes up; a lot of the scratches are deep. I want to say that I am shocked that it didn't draw him out of the night terror, but I've seen weirder things. Someone is going to need to be closer."

"I think he was already scratching himself before he started screaming. The blood on the bed is spread out too much for it to have happened that quickly," Derek said.

"I'll stay up here while you guys finish up dinner," Cora offered.

"Thank you," Noah said.

Derek laid Stiles down on his side so that Peter could wash his back. Stiles curled in on himself when he was left without Derek holding him. Peter covered him up after passing Derek the bowl. Derek took the bowl and went to dump it out. He washed it out and laid it to dry on the counter. They would probably use it a few times. There was a row of bottles that Cora had got the one from. There were a few different ones with calming names. Derek wondered what Peter knew about Stiles that he wasn't sharing. Derek wasn't going to demand anything. Stiles had a right to privacy.

Cora was on Derek's bed when he left the bathroom, finding that she was just staring at Stiles. Time was the only thing that was going to help Stiles, time, and room to heal, but time wasn't on their side. It wasn't going to be impossible to get through to Stiles, but it would feel like it.

* * *

Stiles walked into the living room and stopped at the sight of a dark-haired girl that wasn't Cora sitting and talking to his father. He wasn't sure who the Hales had allowed into what Stiles was considering Derek's Alpha Lair. The capitals were needed; thank you very much. He heard his father laugh and wondered why the man hadn't seen him. He was usually right fucking there when Stiles moved anywhere. He was a lot better at depth perception and not running into things right now, but he was still treated like an invalid.

Laughter from the girl had Stiles stopping. He looked at her, and she turned to look at him. Allison.

"There he is. Such a sleepyhead," Allison said. She stood up from the couch, blood dried, and stuck to her shirt. Right where the Oni had stabbed her was a rip in her shirt. "No wonder you want to do this."

"Do what?" Stiles asked. He looked between his father and Allison. Then there were hands on him. Two sets of hands holding him by the arms as Allison came closer. She had a sword in her hand now, like the one Stiles had seen in the report from a car found that was registered to Gerard after that mess. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on. He tried to jerk out of the hands, but they were holding him tightly. Stiles turned to look at him and realized it was Derek and Peter. Allison put her hand on Stiles' shoulder and leaned close.

"Replace you with me. I get to kill you and come back to life, and I'll be a good little daughter for him. I won't be the freak that you are."

Allison stabbed forward with the blade, and it cut into Stiles like a butter knife through butter. The pain was horrible, and he coughed as he felt blood in his lungs. The Hales just held him as Allison leaned forward to kiss him. When she came back from the kiss, her lips were red.

"He's not gonna be able to stop this; let him go."

The Hales let go, and Stiles dropped to the floor on his knees. The pain was horrific. He couldn't even move because of the pain. He tipped over onto his side, and that pain was worse. Stiles had never felt anything as horrible as that in his life, and he had broken bones before. He turned his head to look at his father, who was standing behind Allison with his hands on her shoulders. Stiles watched as the wound on Allison's front disappeared. It was like it had never been there. He felt himself getting weak, the light fading and darkness creeping in.

"I'll be a better daughter than he ever was a son," Allison said as she sneered at him.

"Please," Stiles begged.

"Shut him up; I don't want to hear him," Stiles' father said.

A warm hand covered Stiles' mouth, and the movement turned his head to where he could see that it was Derek. Stiles was so cold, and that hand on him made him warm. Derek was the last thing he saw as he finally gave in to the darkness creeping in on him.

Stiles shot up in bed, his head thumping. He saw that he was alone. Derek wasn't in bed next to him for the first time in days. He got up gingerly and headed to the bathroom. Hopefully, Derek wouldn't think a damned thing of him using the bathroom and then washing his hands. Stiles did his business, but he left the water running after he was done washing his hands. He found Derek's razor and smiled. The extra blades were gone, but Derek hadn't thought a single thing about the blade that was in there. He didn't even glance at himself in the mirror. He didn't need to. He knew what he looked like. He knew that looking at himself wasn't going to help a damned thing.

The scars on his thighs were there, and then there was the new gash that had happened his second night in the loft. He had woken himself up with the pain of scratching at his thighs. He needed the pain. Stiles grabbed a black towel and sat down on the toilet. He didn't shut the lid but just sat on the edge like he was just going to be sitting there. He lifted the hem of his boxers and found fresh skin that he wanted. He wanted the pain and the release. He was done. If this was the one that he messed up on, he would be happy.

Stiles touched the metal to his thigh and pressed. He felt the splitting of his skin, and that peaceful feeling washed over him. He closed his eyes to enjoy it. He could feel the trickle of blood down his thigh, and he didn't care.

Lifting the blade, Stiles made to make another cut just the same a little over. As he pressed down again, a strong hand closed over his wrist and lifted. He snapped his eyes open to look at Derek, who was looking at him with horror on his face. Stiles looked beyond Derek to see Peter and his father there.

"Can I have some peace?" Stiles asked.

"Stiles," Noah said.

Stiles closed his eyes and looked away. He couldn't take the way that his father said his name.

"Let Derek deal with this, Noah. We'll come up once he's back in bed." Peter pulled his father out of the room.

"I forgot about my blade," Derek said.

"It's okay," Stiles said.

"No, it's not okay. Stiles, you've got to stop hurting yourself."

"No," Stiles said.

Derek looked at him, shocked.

"Don't give me that fucking look, Derek. This is no worse than you throwing yourself into fights you know you aren't going to win because you feel guilty for the deaths of your family and Paige."

"Paige? Who told you...Peter." Derek growled and turned his head to look at the floor.

Stiles was sure that Peter was saying something to Derek.

"Make sure that you guys put up your razors as well," Derek said.

Stiles looked at his hand to see the razor was gone. He sighed. He would find a way. There wasn't any way that they would be able to stop him if it was what he wanted.

"Just get it over with," Stiles said.

Derek let go of his hand and grabbed the kit on the side of the sink.

Stiles just watched him as he got out what was needed to clean up Stiles' cuts and then bandage. His hands were gentle as he did it, but Stiles knew that he was angry. He didn't really care. It was his fucking life, and he would do what he wanted to do.

"Please, Stiles, stop," Derek said.

"Why the fuck do you care?" Stiles asked.

"You are my friend, my Pack."

"I am not your Pack," Stiles hissed.

Derek didn't react, though. He just laid the gauze on Stiles' thigh and then used the wrap to hold it in place.

"You might not think you are in my Pack, but you are. I regret that I didn't come and check up on you. I thought that you were being cared for by Scott and your father."

Stiles scoffed. He had heard all of this shit before. When his mother died, and no one cared that he was home alone with a drunkard of a father. When he was starting junior high and then high school and got himself everything that he needed. He had always been alone; he had just thought that he wasn't. Scott had been pretty good up until lacrosse, and girls were more important. Until what Scott wanted was a normal friend.

"Can you walk?" Derek asked.

"Why the hell could I not walk?" Stiles stood up and headed for the bedroom. He hadn't gone downstairs at all; he hadn't wanted to. Down there, everyone would stare at him. The boy who was alive when he should be dead. When she should be alive instead. She could do so much more for the world. She had a family that loved her and missed her. Her father was devastated, hence why he left.

Stiles crawled into the bed and pulled the blankets up over himself. If he was lucky, he could press on the wounds and go back. He could go back to the pain and the pleasure of how he had been in the bathroom. Derek settled in on the other bed. Stiles really didn't care.

Reaching down, Stiles dug his fingers into the cuts and bit his lip to cover up the rush of endorphins and the moan at the pain. He was happy that it was coming back easily. He gripped his flesh tighter, feeling the skin sitting after it had been held together by the scabs.

Then the pain was gone. It was like it was never there, cutting his rush. He tried to figure out why, and that was when Stiles felt the hand on his foot. He rolled over, jerking his foot away from Derek.

"What the hell!" Stiles launched himself at Derek, topping them both to the floor. He started to hit at him, striking out at every single bit of body that he could hit with his hands. Derek blocked them but never struck back. Stiles didn't care; he just kept on until his arms were limp, and his body couldn't hold him up anymore.

"It's okay," Derek said as he gathered Stiles close to him. "I forgive you."

Stiles tried to struggle out of the hold to demand that Derek take that back. He wasn't worth forgiveness. He pushed and tried to get free, but his body was so tired.

"No," Stiles said.

"It's not your choice whether I forgive you or not, Stiles. It's mine."

Stiles whined at that, but he buried closer to Derek at the same time. He felt the wetness and thought that for a second, he had actually cut Derek. However, a few seconds later, Stiles realized that it were tears from him.

Derek's hand slipped under his shirt and rubbed at the skin on his back. The touch of someone else felt good to Stiles. It wasn't touching for medical stuff but a touch to calm him down, to make him feel better.

"Stiles," Noah said from somewhere.

Stiles normally would be able to tell where he was but his head a little off. He just curled into Derek more. More hands touched him, and Stiles tried to get away from them. They didn't go away, though, and he felt a callus on the one hand. He knew it was his father. He tried to get away, but Derek and his father just moved him to his father's lap. His father shouldn't be touching him. He wasn't worth it.

"You are worth it, Stiles. You are worth everything." Stiles' father's voice was soft and gentle as he said the words.

Stiles let the words wash over him, and he turned to let his father hug him correctly. He kept on telling Stiles that he was worth it the whole time.

* * *

"How are they?" Peter asked.

"You aren't listening?" Derek asked. He looked at the door to the loft to see that Cora's running shoes were gone. He wasn't shocked. She did like he did and got out her emotions by physical activity.

"Not after you got up there. He deserves some dignity. Were you right?"

"Yes, he was cutting himself. Make sure no razors are left out anywhere. I don't even care if it's Cora's that she shaves her legs with. Get the knives up too. He's...worse than we thought."

"He'll do better, but he'll have setbacks," Peter said.

"And how do you know this?"

"I've been reading a lot. Miss McCall was helpful in getting me in touch with a psychiatrist there, and he gave me a few books to read on trauma and everything else that I think is wrong with him. I've talked in generalities, and he understands that Stiles doesn't trust anyone but those close to him after Eichen. So he's been talking to me as I tell him what I trust him with. I'm putting a few feelers out for a therapist for Stiles that is not Marin Morrell. Something will come of it, I know that. Then he can have a chat about the thousand-year-old spirit that took him over and how it really makes him feel that Scott just left him to deal with it."

"Everyone left him alone, thinking that everyone else was taking care of him."

"Except for Noah."

"I'm not touching that with a ten-foot pole," Peter said.

Derek laughed, and he looked at where he had been brewing a cup of tea. The water was cold by now. He walked over and found that Peter had made the tea for him, and it was sitting on the warmer. "Thank you."

"You are welcome. I made one for myself as well. I thought about heading out and getting relaxing teas for Stiles, something without caffeine and sugar. We have enough pop here, but he's not taking his medication at the moment."

Derek stopped in the motion of lifting his teacup to his lips and looked at Peter. He hadn't really noticed until just that moment that Stiles wasn't taking his pills. The acrid scent on him was less. Derek had known what it was from Spencer.

"That sounds good. I'm going to stay here. See about getting the paperwork filed to get Cora registered at Beacon Hills High School for the winter semester. Her paperwork on her classes down in South America came through. She'll have to take placement tests, but I think that the fight is going to be less with getting her to do that than before. She'll want to go to protect Stiles."

"Agreed. Anything else you want me to pick up?"

"Reese's Cups? The small individual wrapped ones, a big bag. Maybe giving him a few treats will help. And I know that sounds like I think he's a dog, but he's not eating the best. Maybe a dessert he really likes at the end is something that he'll like, might be able to get him to eat more."

"Sure. I'll get a big bag of them. We can talk more about a game plan when Noah's down.

Peter drained his cup of tea and headed toward the door to the loft. He stopped, and it made Derek turn his sense that way. Three heartbeats outside the door. He was about to grab the bat that Noah had brought with him from Stiles' room but stopped when the three beats filtered in.

"Let them in," Derek said.

Peter nodded his head. He opened the door, and Derek was in the right place to see Chris, Isaac, and Jackson react to Peter standing there.

"Peter," Chris said.

"Christopher, what can I do for you?"

"Isaac wanted to come back with Jackson," Chris said.

"Ah, I see. Well, Derek is in the kitchen. I'm headed to the store to pick up some chamomile tea for Stiles. Stiles is up with his father, and you two do not listen in. He had a rough moment, and he's a little raw right now."

Jackson nodded his head and looked at Derek. Isaac had already been looking at Derek.

"Please come in, ignore Peter; he feels like Stiles is his pup."

Peter turned and glared at Derek but slipped between Chris and the door to head out.

"Chris, Isaac, welcome. It's a shock to see you."

"Argent left Isaac with me for a weekend in London, and he heard you when you called. I was not even going to try and stop him from coming along. How is Stiles really doing?" Jackson asked. He glanced up, but his eyes didn't narrow.

"Not well. He's healing fine, physically. His symptoms of his TBI are going down, but mentally he's not doing well. I will not break confidences, but I will tell you the stuff that the Sheriff has freely told me."

Derek took his time telling them everything that he felt safe telling. He watched as Chris looked more and more horrified. They were all seated on various bits of furniture that didn't go together, but they had bought what the store had that Derek liked even if it didn't match. He had hoped it would get a rise out of Stiles, but he hadn't left the bedroom.

"He's not doing well with that, is he?" Chris asked.

"Who?" Derek asked.

"Scott and his Alpha power. He should have known that Stiles was in pain."

"I don't think he has a Pack bond with him." Derek hated admitting it. It was the only thing that made sense to him.

"What?" Jackson asked.

Isaac looked at all of them with weird looks on his face. "Pack bonds with a human? Scott said that was impossible."

"No, it's not. It's actually stronger with a Human. Have you made one with him?"

"I don't know if that would help or hurt. He's been shut down. He barely talks to his father, and he really doesn't talk to anyone else. He's still angry, hurt, and scared."

"I'm going on a walk," Isaac said.

"I'll go with you," Jackson said when Derek looked at him.

The two adults were quiet as the two teens headed out the door.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"He's passively suicidal. No weapons in the loft. I don't know what you have on him."

"Nothing. I knew I wasn't coming into a safe place. How passive and how active?"

"All passive. He was driven off the road by a guy driving, and he didn't even try and stop his Jeep from going over. He wasn't scared as it went down a hill. He's cutting. He was just doing that, and it's why Noah is up with him. I don't know what to do, but right now, he's not talking to anyone. I didn't expect Jackson to get here that fast."

"I got us here that fast. I had one of the company SUVs waiting in parking, and we headed down. As soon as I heard something was wrong with Stiles, after the Nogitsune, I wanted to come to check on him."

"And kill him?"

"I knew it wasn't that type of situation. I didn't...I don't know what to do here?"

"At some point, when I think that Stiles can handle it, I was going to have you and he Skype so that you can tell him that you don't blame him for Allison's death."

"He wasn't the Nogitsune at that point. How can anyone think that he is responsible."

"I don't know if he thought it or someone said it where he could hear it. I thought that Scott was taking care of him, I don't know what Scott thought, and Noah thought that he was fine enough. It's a lot of things falling, and it means that Stiles thinks that he's worthless."

"Anything you need to get off of your chest?" Chris asked.

Derek snorted. He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "I hated Stiles' reaction to me taking his pain."

"What?"

"I took his pain. He was in bed after I bandaged up his newest attempt at cutting, and he was pressing down and trying to rip open the wounds again. I took the pain, so he didn't get that high off of it. It was probably stupid, but he lashed out. He was pissed, and he started to hit me. I took it, and now he's up there with his father."

"I have a lot of issues with a lot of things that you have said. There is nothing, though, that I think you could have done better with what you have. I'm not here to Monday Night Quarterback you. I'm going to call a friend of mine. Well, a new friend of mine. I never connected with any of them to see what they think about all of this."

"I..."

"I'm going to put it on speaker. You keep an ear out for the Stilinskis," Chris said.

Derek nodded his head. Chris pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number before laying his phone down on the table.

"Chris, I am shocked to hear from you. Where are you?"

"I went away from London for a while. Where are you, Adam?" Chris asked.

"On a mission for Celeste. Why?"

"I need a therapist that would be willing to travel or willing to meet with someone over a computer. Reluctant to the extreme, paranoid, and an all-around brat."

"Human or Supe?" Adam asked.

"Um, he's human."

"I meant the therapist. I know of three offhand. One of them has always wanted a reason to travel to America. Where would they be going?"

"Beacon Hills."

"What went on in Beacon Hills?" Adam asked.

Derek stiffened at the way that Adam said it. Chris held out a hand and waved for him to calm down.

"Nothing more. Just one of the affected is a little in need of someone who can deal with this shit."

"Maybe I could meet with them and talk to them? See which is the best fit?"

"Adam, where are you?"

"Beacon Hills."

"This is my territory; why are you here?"

"I was asked to check on a family member for someone here. I haven't found them yet. Their house is empty, but I'm going to go by the father's place of work."

Derek pointed and Chris, then down at the phone, then to the floor.

"I'm going to have you come to where I am, and we can discuss this person you are checking on. I don't like that you and a team came here. I know that she's ready to step in, but this area is still mine."

"It's just me, and other than a few blades and a supply of Mountain Ash powder, I have nothing else with me. I was not coming armed with wolfsbane of any kind with the Hale Alpha stalking around. I've heard rumors he's pulled his Pack back to him, and they rarely leave where they are holed up."

"Christoper, why were you talking to this man?" Peter asked.

Adam screamed.

"Don't attack!" Chris yelled.

"I don't know if you mean him or me, but I wasn't going to touch a hair on his pretty little head."

"Peter, bring him back to the loft. He's got a meeting with Chris."

"Of course. I have what I need anyway. Do you like tea?"

Derek sighed because he was pretty sure that Peter was the only person in the world that could make asking if someone liked tea sound like a threat and a come on at the same time.

"Be there soon," Peter said a second before Adam hung up the phone.

"Who is he?"

"Adam and I trust him. He's been with a hunting family that started to get their roots in Washington DC and that area five years ago."

"You are bringing Hunters here?" Derek asked.

"They are nothing like my family. In fact, the current heir is named Robbie, and he's a born wolf-like his father. The mother's line is where the Hunters come from. She has family in America. She never told me anything about them other than they were here. I told her about everything. She was in Poland when Isaac and I were going through there to head to London to meet with a friend. That's when we ran into Jackson." Chris looked up. "How are they?"

Derek checked, and he heard that Stiles was asleep, and it seemed that Noah was just sitting by his bed. "Stiles is asleep, and Noah's sitting with him. Do you want me to have him come down?"

"I want him to meet with Adam before we discuss anything about mental health for Stiles."

"I'll get him."

It was fifteen minutes before the door to the loft opened up. Noah was on his way down the stairs when Adam walked in with Peter behind him. Adam stopped, and he was staring at Noah with a shocked look on his face. Derek did double-check, but no the Sheriff wasn't in his uniform.

"Were you bit, Sir?" Adam asked.

Peter growled, but Derek held up a hand. The man sounded scared.

"I know you..." Noah walked over to Adam to stand in front of him. "What is my sister-in-law's adopted son doing in Beacon Hills?"

"Well..." Adam looked at Derek like he was checking something. "Shit."

"You can say that again," Chris said. He rubbed his hands over his face before clapping them. "Okay. So this just got a hell of a lot more complicated. Peter and Derek, this is Adam Calavera. He ran away from home and was adopted by Celeste and Kais Gajos. Adam, this is Peter and Derek Hale. Derek is the Alpha, and at the moment, Peter is his Left Hand. Their sister is around somewhere. Upstairs is-"

"Stiles," Adam said.

Peter growled and was in motion before Derek could stop him; he had Adam against the wall, a clawed hand holding onto his neck.

"Drop him, Peter," Noah said.

Peter let him go, but he stayed between Adam and Noah.

"Okay, tell me what is going on?" Noah demanded.

"I called Adam for his help in finding a therapist in the know about Werewolves and the like so that Stiles can talk to them. I did not realize that he was in some way related to you. Your wife's maiden name was Gajos?"

"Yes. Why is that important?"

"The Gajos took over leading the hunting of Supernaturals when the Argents left France. They had control over most, but when the Argents left, there was a power vacuum." Peter walked over to the island and picked up Derek's now cold teacup before he drained it.

Derek wondered where he had left the stuff he was supposed to go to the store for. Though he and Adam had to get here, Peter wasn't going to let anyone else drive his car.

"The Gajos family is the only major family that allows Supernaturals into the family. The Argents were all tainted by how they had to hunt the Beast, so it's where the code came from where they had to kill themselves if they were turned. A few over the years left the Argents and went to the Gajos. I found out while I was in a coma that they started to get a foothold here in the States while the Argents focused on something strange. Which I now know was the Hales and hunting down Derek and Laura. Adam, I do not pity you at all."

"Why?" Adam asked.

"You have to Celeste that her nephew was taken over by a Nogitsune but don't worry, he was smart enough to survive, now he's dealing with the aftermath."

Adam actually looked like he was going to shit himself with that. Derek did pity him as well.

"Son, I'll tell her myself and also yell at her for keeping this shit from me. Claudia too, but I can't hell at anything but the sky for that. I've not seen you since Claudia's funeral. Stiles will be happy to see you, up until he finds out the truth."

"I hate you," Adam said as he looked at Chris.

"You need to hate your mother," Chris said.

Derek had no clue about the Gajos. He hadn't heard about them before.

"Wait...she's married to a Werewolf?" Noah asked a few seconds later.

"Yes, Kais is an Alpha Werewolf," Adam said.

"Yup, I'm gonna have words with her."

"She was trying to respect your wife's want to keep that life away from here, Sir."

"I know that Son, but I can't yell at Claudia, so Celeste will have to do. Let's go up and see if Stiles is awake. He's not been sleeping long at all before waking up. You can hang with him. Are you anything like them?"

"I'm human, Sir. I come from a different hunting family that is based in Mexico. I detested what they did and sought out Celeste and the family since I knew they were the kind of Hunters that I liked. I jumped on the chance to live with them."

Derek tuned out the words of Noah upstairs talking to his son and then Adam heading up there. He didn't listen to the words, but he did listen to the tones. The Alpha Spark gave Derek good uses of all of his senses. He loved it. It allowed him to be what he needed. Though he had flailed for a while about everything, he was good. He was good at everything now. He was better. Calmer.

There were two more people he wanted to pull into the Pack. He just hoped that Stiles let him.

* * *

Stiles heard voices, and he laid there in bed; the voices were raised, and there was more than his father, Derek, and Peter down there. At least two other male voices that weren't theirs. He wasn't sure what to do. He heard someone coming up, so he just laid there. He closed his eyes again, hoping that it wasn't a Werewolf. If it was either Hale, they would know he was awake.

"Hey, Stiles, are you awake?" Noah sat down on Stiles' bed and waited. "Adam's downstairs."

Stiles tried to think about who Adam was. There were several Adams at school, but he couldn't understand why any of them would be here. Then he remembered another Adam. He had only met him twice. The guy his Aunt and Uncle, had adopted. Why was he here? It was more plausible that one of the Adams from school was there. 

"Hey, Stiles. So I want to tell you a story of the time I was twelve, and I was taken over by a Demon," Adam said. 

Stiles knew that it was him because of the weird accent that he had from growing up in Mexico for the first half of his life and then Poland for the second half. 

"A demon? How?" Stiles actually sat up to see him there. Adam looked good, older since Stiles had last seen him and just as pretty as he had always been. He had been Stiles' first crush beside Lydia and how he had found out that he was bisexual. He still had no clue if guys were into him; Danny was an asshole about that. "Wait...what?"

"Ah, your brain ain't working like normal. That's fine. Can I...I need to check on how you are doing and to do that, I need to touch you."

Stiles pulled the blankets that had fallen off him back up, and he moved until his back was pressed to the headboard. "Why?"

"Has Deaton never done this?"

"Why does Deaton have to do with anything?" Stiles asked.

"Shit," Adam said. He dropped down into the chair that was always there at Stiles' bedside even though his father and Derek sat on his bed more than anything else. "Okay, so, magic is real."

"No shit, I mean, Werewolves are real, and Peter is back from the dead, so yeah, magic is real."

"Back from the dead? You have a Banshee here?"

"I mean, he used Lydia to bring him back from what Lydia told me." Stiles wasn't going to reveal that they knew that. Thanks to the Darach, he wanted to know what Adam knew, and it seemed that he knew enough. 

"She's a Banshee then. I'll deal with that later. Until someone else gets here, you are my focus, and I could care less about anyone else."

"Not my Aunt and Uncle," Stiles said.

"No. They are too busy with other things, Stiles. She will send a Hunter team, though."

"How can they...oh my God, they are Hunters aren't they?"

"Yes, but not like Argent. You have nothing to fear about them or us. We would never, ever hurt an innocent."

"Is there no police that deals with them? Like when the Argents burned down a house with children, human and Werewolf in it?"

"What?" 

"Dude, you have a lot to learn, but tell me about this Demon."

"I was twelve, and my mother had the guys take me on a hunt. We were going after an Omega who had lost its Pack and left a trail of bodies up and down the river. It wasn't too bad, really, as the main target was drug runners and warlords men. Then they started to go after regular people, and that's when my mother stepped in. Only it wasn't an Omega like we thought. Yes, it was an Omega, but it wasn't driven insane by the breaking of Pack bonds; it was a host to a Demon. That's why it was killing. The damned warlords had accidentally set it free, and it was trying to kill them all so that they couldn't put it back. Well, the team I was with killed it's host enough to where it needed a new one. So it chose me. I have no memories of that time. I killed the entire team, though, before they were able to get someone to the area to free me of the Demon. It attached itself to me because of my magic, just like you."

"What?" Stiles asked.

"That's why I want to touch you. It can be just your hand, your foot. I want to make sure that the Nogitsune hadn't done too much damage when it left you. We don't want you to have issues from that." 

Stiles looked at his father, seeing the worry there. 

"I want Derek," Stiles said. 

"Noah?" Adam asked.

"I'll get him.

Stiles looked at the wall and waited for Derek to come up the stairs after his father yelled for him. Derek came right up and stopped at the end of Stiles' bed. Stiles waved at Adam and then Derek. Adam went over what he wanted to do, and Derek looked shocked at a lot of it.

"It's a standard way of doing things for those with magic," Derek confirmed.

"He said something about Deaton."

"Deaton was my mother's Emissary. He stayed in contact with Laura. He told Laura about the deer, and then when she got a letter in the mail, she knew that it meant that someone else was trying to lure her back here. I told her not to go. She didn't listen."

"Scott said that Deaton knew how to heal him, but he said nothing about that."

"Deaton likes to stay apart from the Pack. He only ever dealt with my mother. I guess other Emissaries are more involved with the Pack. So, yes, Scott might not know that Deaton is a Druid or anything like that."

"Is that what you are?" Stiles asked Adam as he looked at him.

"Druid? No. I don't go for balance. I go for the good side. I don't let things just happen because I think it's the universe's will for some kind of balance. Is that what Deaton says happens?"

"Yes. He preserves the balance," Derek said.

"I'll deal with that later. So Stiles, touch or no?" Adam asked.

Stiles looked at Derek, begging him to tell him what to do.

"It's safe, Stiles. He can't hurt you, not while I am here." 

Stiles nodded his head before he looked at Adam and did the same. He stuck his foot out, knowing that he could jerk it back if needed. He felt Adam's hand on his foot, but there was no pain, there was no anything really. Adam closed his eyes and said nothing, did nothing as far as Stiles could tell. His eyes popped open a few minutes later, and he looked at Stiles with a smile on his face. 

"You are fine. There is no Nogitsune left in you at all, and your magic is...what happened this past spring that would have made your magic surge?"

"I don't know. How about everything?" Stiles snarked at him.

"No, there was a huge surge, and then it's what drew the Nogitsune to you. What did you do that was impossible this past spring?"

"Hold up an Alpha Werewolf in a pool for two hours," Derek said.

Stiles looked at him. He had just assumed that it was the whole thing of like lifting a car off of a kid.

"What else?"

"Made a line of Mountain Ash powder last as long as he needed it to complete it. Then there was the whole thing with the Nogitsune. Everything that we had said that we would have to change him to a Werewolf for him to survive, and then through sheer will, he pushed it from him. He created a new host for the Nogitsune. He was weak for a while after that, especially while it was still alive. It used his face, though."

"We can make sure to bring in someone to train him. Now you, Mister Alpha, how many Betas do you have that are Werewolves?" Adam asked.

"Cora, Peter, Isaac, and Jackson. Their bonds to me were never broken. Why?"

"There is a fifth hanging onto you."

"Yes, Gerard Argent. He keeps the Pack bond, but I can't trace him with it. I've tried for months."

"He's alive?" Stiles demanded. 

The darkness that had been his hated companion was back, and Stiles could see it creeping in at the edges. He grabbed it and pulled, happy when the world just went away.

* * *

Adam looked worn out when he came down into the main area of the loft. He looked like he had run a marathon.

"He's not gonna come back until he's ready. It was a little too much. Why does he fear Gerard Argent that much?" Adam asked.

"Before he was bitten, Gerard kidnapped him and beat him up to send a message, only Scott didn't get it. So it was moot," Chris said as he handed over a cup of tea to Adam. 

"Do you know where he is?" Adam asked.

Chris hesitated, and Derek knew that he did know where he was. 

"Kate's dead," Derek said.

Chris turned his head to look at him, an eyebrow cocked.

"For good this time. From what I found out from the Calaveras, they took her body from the morgue before being sent to the funeral home to get her body set for the burial. They took her and held her until she fully turned. They gave her the means to end her life as all of the Hunters in the Americas do. Then she tricked them and escaped. She came up here to do something with me, but Peter was around, and he killed her fully this time, removing her head," Derek said.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Chris asked.

"You were dealing with the loss of Allison, and I wasn't even sure how to get a hold of you." Derek shrugged at that. It wasn't his job to do that kind of thing. The Argents were the authors of every single bit of pain in his life, outside of what the Alpha Pack had done, but then that traced back to the Argents in a way as well. If Gerard had not gone after Deucalion or at least had killed him, then things would be different. Everything that was wrong in Beacon Hills was at the feet of Gerard. 

"He's going to die, Chris."

"What?" Chris asked and looked at Adam.

"Celeste will not suffer him to live after what he has done to Stiles, to this town. The Argent era of control of the United States is over. He took the bite to cure his cancer. He would have had to have killed himself after that, so why take the bite? He wasn't going to follow the Argent code at all. He was going to play the games the way that he wanted, and he didn't care about anything else."

"Noah told you everything," Derek said.

"Everything that he knows, yes, Stiles told me a good bit as well. He's a pretty smart kid. He'd be good as a Hunter, but I don't think that he'd do that."

"He's too invested in protecting the Pack instead of going out and hunting," Chris said.

"Yes. Derek, he needs a Pack to help stabilize his magic. If this other Alpha isn't going to step up, you need to."

"I'll go and talk to him. Tell Chris what you know and Peter and help fill in the blanks. Where are the Betas?" Derek asked as he looked at Peter.

"Cora found them out walking. Cora has your card and is getting Christmas decorations with their help. This place is going to be turned into a winter wonderland, her words."

"Cora always loved Christmas. That's fine with me. It's getting closer to Christmas. Adam, we don't have a room here, but you are more than welcome to the couch, or you can go with Peter to stay at his place. Noah's got the guest room, and then Cora has her own. Chris-"

"I have four air mattresses in the back of the SUV. That's enough for us three and Adam. We can set them up anywhere. I always have beds ready for me." 

Derek nodded his head and turned his head to look up at where Noah and Stiles were. He wasn't sure that he wanted to burst into their bubble, but he needed to do what Adam said. He trusted the man when it came to things with Stiles. If Stiles was harmed by something he suggested, he had a feeling that Celeste and Kais would kill him. 

The door to the bedroom was open, and Stiles was lying on the bed, his head pillowed on his arm, and he was looking at his father. They were talking, and it seemed like maybe finally they were getting to where they were truly talking and maybe even healing. 

"Knock, knock," Derek said. 

Noah turned his head and smiled at Derek, but the hesitant smile on Stiles' face made Derek's heart swell. Stiles was awake, so he must have just waited for Adam to leave the room to come back. His father being around was good. Derek was glad that he trusted his father as much as he seemed to at the moment. It would be better in the long run that he trusted his father again, but Derek knew that trust was hard to build up again if it was broken. He was just glad that his trust in his father was just bent a little. 

"How are things in here?"

"Stiles thinks he's hungry. I was going to head out to get dinner for us."

"Have Peter call in and have it delivered. he'll figure out what the Betas want as well."

"Burger, dad, please," Stiles begged.

"Of course, with fries and one of those milkshakes that you like so much. Small on it all since you've not been eating all that much."

"Okay." 

Noah stood up, reaching over and rubbing at the hair on Stiles' head before he headed out. Derek stepped out of the way, and Noah clasped his hand on his shoulder as he passed him. 

"What do you need, Sourwolf?" Stiles asked. His lips were quirked in what would normally be a smile for him, but it was faded. 

"How are you feeling?" Derek asked as he sat down in the chair that Stiles' father had been in. 

"I'm a little...raw, I think it is the best term but not as bad as I was. I'm sorry for the whole trying to beat you thing."

"It's fine. I understand where it came from and that I was the better target."

"I shouldn't have. I just...everything feels so different, and I hate it. I just have nothing to cling to."

Derek nodded his head. He understood. He got up from the chair as it seemed that distance wasn't the best choice for this. He waited for Stiles to nod before he sat down on the edge of the bed. Stiles rolled onto his back, the blankets still covering most of his body. Derek reached out and pulled up the one side of the blankets that had slipped down. He touched Stiles' cheek and then laid his hand on his shoulder. Stiles acted like he was going to push away from the touch but didn't. 

"Do you want to be Pack?" Derek asked.

"What?" 

"Adam thinks that a Pack bond will help you magically, and I think that it will help you not feel so alone. You would be able to feel us all a little bit and your father as well."

"What do we need to do?"

"A symbolic bite, I don't need to break the skin by my teeth on your skin without puncturing it will solidify it. It will not hurt, and it won't do anything other than make you Pack. There will also need to be the intent that you are going into this without subterfuge. You can't lie and mean harm to the Pack and still be allowed in; the magic won't work."

"And Gerard?" Stiles asked.

"There is a thing in place to take care of him. We will get him out of the bonds since he's holding on too well. I tried to break the bond a few times, but it's stubborn."

"I hate that you've had to feel him."

"Ah, there are ways to dull the feelings. I, at least, learned how to do that. Why don't you want Celeste and Kais to come?"

"She looks like mom. Too much, and it hurts, and right now, I don't want that."

"What if they come but stay away from you? Having them around would help a lot. Chris' people aren't the best to trust given that most would probably follow Gerard instead of him, but her people would be absolute, and I can trust that they aren't going to go after any humans." 

"I guess that would be fine." 

Derek smiled and leaned forward. He stopped, though. He was going to scent Stiles without asking him. He started to pull back, but Stiles pulled him down again, rubbing his cheek on Derek's first. Derek let out a little rumble as he did it better. 

"Do you want to go downstairs?" Derek asked.

"I don't know."

"I think that a change in scenery might do you good. We can head down, and if it gets too much, I'll bring you back up. Do you want to shower or anything?"

"Yes, and then you can bandage up my legs again?" Stiles asked.

"Sure. I'll stay up here and then help you." 

Stiles smiled at Derek. 

* * *

Stiles felt better as he came out of the shower. He looked around for Derek, but he wasn't in the bathroom. He walked to the door and opened it to find Derek sitting beside the door with a book in his hand. "Ready."

Derek stood up and tossed the book toward the bed. It landed perfectly, spinning a little but not falling off of the bed.

"Show off," Stiles said.

Derek just laughed in response. He waved for Stiles to head back into the bathroom. Stiles did and sat down on the toilet. He was just in a pair of boxers so that it wasn't hard to get to the cut on his legs. The urge to add more was there. It was like a mantra in his head, constant. He had promised his father he was going to hold off as long as he could, though. He wanted to be good. They had talked a good bit about everything, and they were both still a little raw, but his father was trying. He was trying more than he had in years.

"Do you want me to draw the pain?" Derek asked as he held up the bottle of antiseptic.

"Yes, please." Stiles braced himself for the feel of the pain, and then it faded in the same instant.

Derek was just as careful as he had been the entire time. He didn't do anything that was abrasive, and it was kind of hypnotic to look at him cleaning the cuts. Despite never really having to do it before, Derek knew what to do and what not to do. He wasn't sure where he had learned that.

"Where did you learn how to do first aid?" Stiles asked.

"My little brother was five, and he hurt himself really bad. I didn't know what the hell to do, so mom enrolled me in a health department class. I learned everything that I could after that. He was injury-prone but usually bruises. He had fallen though and gotten tangled in a bit of barbed wire that had been tangled in brush. We never did find out how it got there. It was just about two feet of it. He had a few scars from it."

"So, you had a human little brother?"

"With ADHD," Derek said.

"Really?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah. Spencer was his name. He was the baby, but he never acted like it. Cora was still treated like she was the baby. I think she liked it, and Spencer liked being left alone a lot."

"That's how you knew how to deal with me when I got too manic," Stiles said.

"Yes. I could smell your medication on your body, and it was one that they had tried on Spencer, but he didn't react well with it, so he was on something different."

"Yeah, I tried a few before getting settled on this one. The others either took me down too far, even with the lowest dose that would do a damned thing, or they made me manic. There was one that had me super depressed. So yeah, I understand that." Stiles looked down to see that Derek had finished up on both legs while they had been talking.

"I don't like seeing you hurt," Derek said.

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Stiles." Derek stood up, tipping Stiles' head to where he could check on his head wound. It was still a little tender, but there were no outward bits of blood anywhere the last that Stiles had checked, but then again, he had just washed up. "You are dealing the best that you can. Everyone goes back to methods that worked when things get to be too much."

"What?" Stiles asked.

"I can see the small and very old scars from the last time you cut."

"I can't even see them," Stiles said.

"Alpha eyes are much better at seeing everything." Derek's finger traced over a scar in Stiles' hairline that Stiles had never seen given where it was, but he had been injured pretty badly there his freshman year when he was shoved into a locker. His father had not been happy about it at all. It had started an anti-bullying campaign that had done nothing. "Like this. I can see where there is a small disturbance in your skin there. I could probably find every single scar on your body even if you can't see them."

Stiles swallowed and tried not to think about Derek touching him all over.

"DINNER!" Peter yelled. It was so loud that Stiles heard it.

Stiles laughed as he looked at Derek's face. He was scowling by the time that he settled on a facial expression.

Derek was the next to laugh when Stiles' stomach growled.

"Hey, don't make fun."

"I'm not making fun. I'm just happy that your stomach is growling. It's been a little bit since I've heard that."

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've felt it. I'm really happy about it. Happier if I got food into me and clothes on my back."

"Then let's head down." Derek waved for him to head out of the bathroom.

Stiles walked out first, heading to where he had laid out the clothes he wanted to wear. No jeans as he didn't want them catching on his bandages, and he was sick of sweats. He had found a pair of lounge pants of Derek's in the dresser he had been told to grab what he wanted out of. Stiles hadn't taken anything out of it yet, but he was more than willing as his father hadn't brought anything but sweats for him. Stiles did wear one of his own T-shirts. He jerked that on before following Derek out of the bedroom.

Down on the first floor, Stiles stopped when he saw Isaac, Jackson, and Chris there. He swallowed when Jackson's eyes met his with a look on his face that Stiles knew well. It was the same way that Derek had looked at him after the Nogitsune. Like he knew exactly what Stiles was going through.

Stiles shook his head, and Jackson nodded back.

"What are you losers doing back?" Stiles asked, trying for something closer to how he was before.

"They made me bring them," Chris said.

"You just escaped this hellhole, Isaac."

"I figured that there was something I needed to do before I fucked off again."

"Language," Chris, Adam, and Stiles' father said at the same time.

Stiles laughed at that. He started to laugh even harder, and he didn't know why, but he couldn't stop. He felt tears streaming down his face.

Peter came in the door to the loft with what looked like five pizza boxes and then many bags stacked on top of that with another two bags hanging from the arm that was holding up the pizza boxes.

Derek walked over to help him with getting the food down without dropping it.

"What about my milkshake?" Stiles asked.

"I'm making that myself," Peter said.

"You have a thing to make that here?"

"Your father said you liked milkshakes, and so I went out and got everything for it. I was going to tempt you with that to try and get you to eat better. There is nothing like bribery to get what you want."

"And there is the Creeperwolf we all know and love," Stiles said.

Peter just grinned at him before handing a bag over to Derek.

Stiles enjoyed watching the two of them be the wolves that they were. None of the containers were opened up; they were just sniffed and handed over to whoever they belonged to. Peter did the same with the pizzas. It was something that Stiles kind of marveled at. There were two Hunters here in the loft, and they were allowing themselves to act like the wolves they were. They weren't hiding a single thing. It made Stiles feel good, despite everything. Stiles knew that he wasn't better, he was having a good day, and that was about it. He would probably wake up tomorrow and feel like shit again.

"Hey, Dad," Stiles said as his father walked over to him with a box of food that Derek had said was for him.

"Yeah?"

"When it's time, and the doctor thinks, maybe I can go on some kind of low-grade antidepressant? I'm sure we can find something that will work with my ADHD medication."

"We can see if that's needed, yes."

Stiles could see the happiness in his father's eyes. How proud he was that Stiles was asking. A knock on the door had everyone's heads whipping over to look. Stiles saw the way that all of the Werewolves inhaled. They were trying to figure out who it was.

"Kira," Isaac said.

"Who?" Jackson asked.

"The Kitsune, the good one," Chris said. He got up and walked over to the door. He opened it up and waved for Kira to enter.

"Oh, I can come back later," Kira said.

"No, it's fine. Please, there is more than enough pizza," Peter said.

Kira looked at Derek.

"There is. We got those in case the other underestimated how hungry they were." Derek waved her over to him. He gave her a smile and opened the box with the pizza that she would like in it. She grabbed a few slices and dropped them in. "What did you need?"

"I was coming over to check on Stiles."

"For yourself or for Scott?" Peter asked.

"Peter," Derek said, a hint of a growl in his tone. Peter just glared back at him.

"No, for me. He was nice to me, even when I was weird. And I like him, as a friend. I wanted to come and check on him after everything, but my parents said that I should stay away just in case me being a Kitsune was hard on him."

"It's not," Stiles said. He looked around and then waved for her to follow him. Stiles got comfortable on the couch, and Derek was next, taking the seat next to him. Stiles didn't mind that at all. Everyone else settled in and spread around the room. Kira was looking around at all of them, frowning a little at the two that she didn't know.

"Kira, this is Jackson; he's a former resident of Beacon Hills. He came back to talk with Stiles some since he's been used by someone else to kill people and understands," Derek said.

"And my name is Adam, and I'm a Hunter with a family that is coming to town to help Chris with some things."

"Oh, my name is Kira Yukimura," Kira said.

"Scott's girlfriend," Jackson said with a strange tone in his voice.

"Yes," Kira said.

Jackson turned his face away from her. He thankfully didn't say anything about it. Stiles looked at Kira to see that she wasn't upset. She had to have heard at least a little bit about Jackson.

"Who is that?" Peter asked about three seconds before there was another knock on the door.

"Danny," Isaac said.

"Oh," Jackson said, and he jumped up, carrying his food with him. He ripped the door open, and there was Danny.

"This place is great," Danny said.

"The outside doesn't look like much, but the inside is better. It's like a Batcave," Jackson said.

"Hey, Stiles," Danny said as he came into where everyone was. He looked at everyone before looking at Kira with a smile. "You know I have not figured out what you are yet."

"What?" several voices said at once.

Stiles wasn't able to figure out who they were.

"Scott's not the quietest when he talks, and Stiles tried, but he was worked up a lot. I mean, I think that most people thought they were talking about D&D but then throw in Jackson and everything, and well, Werewolves wasn't the weirdest thing in the world. I'm okay with having one for a best friend, but I'm not gonna stay dating one."

"Dating one?" Jackson asked.

"Ethan," Stiles and Danny said at the same time.

"How long have you known?" Jackson asked.

"I didn't want to freak you out after the game this last spring but around then. No one dies like that and then comes back and is fine. Stiles' Jeep looked like he had wrecked it. Then he looked like someone had wrecked him, and the other team swore it wasn't them, and I know one of the guys on there, and he promised me that. Then the shit went down even more with Argents. It didn't take me long at all to get it all put together. The Internet is kind of nice as well. Especially once I found the Hunter webring, through hacking."

"Fucking hell," Adam said. He drew out his phone and started to text.

Stiles figured that someone was going to find out who Danny was and watch him on there. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on, really. Danny knew? Danny knew almost everything?

"Sunnydale Syndrome."

"What?" Derek asked as he looked at Stiles. He looked adorable when he was confused and not pissed off and confused.

"It's from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. I guess we kind of assumed that most people around town would just ignore the stuff that doesn't make sense. I mean, it worked with Dad for a long time." Stiles glanced at his father to see him frowning. Stiles shrugged.

Stiles pulled his food to his chest with one arm and started to eat. He listened as Kira started to talk about what she was to Danny. Everyone was settled down and happy. It was a room of happy people despite everything, and to Stiles, it was like a world of people who could see color while he only saw black and white.

"Here," Peter said.

Stiles looked up to see that Peter had not only made him a milkshake but had also bought the glasses from milkshake shops. Peter had another in his hand, which he gave over to Derek.

"So none for anyone else?" Cora asked.

"Well, no one told me what they wanted," Peter snarked at her.

"Ugh," Cora said, which started a huge set of fights between all of the Betas.

Stiles started to shake, and he wasn't sure what to do.

"Hey, Stiles, it's time to change your bandages," Derek said as he stood up from where he had been sitting. He held out his hand, and Stiles handed over his milkshake. Derek ushered them both upstairs once Stiles was on his feet.

Derek shut the bedroom door behind him and kept pushing Stiles until he was sitting in the chair beside the bed. Derek sat down on the bed and handed over the milkshake, turning the straw toward Stiles.

"Got to be too much?" Derek asked.

Stiles nodded while taking a sip of the milkshake. It was really good. It was kind of a shock that Peter made good milkshakes. It tasted like a milky Reese's cup, and Stiles loved it.

"Peter didn't give you as much as me," Stiles said with a frown.

"I bet he figured you couldn't eat all of yours, so he made me less so I could finish it off. And knowing you, you would have fought him not giving you a full one. Even if you couldn't finish it off, and you knew it."

Stiles swallowed what he had in his mouth before he stuck his tongue out at Derek.

"Do you want to be alone?" Derek asked.

Stiles shook his head. He had been alone for so long. He wasn't even sure how much time had passed. "How long until Christmas?"

"A week. Cora, Jackson, and Danny went shopping for decorations. Maybe in the morning, we can all work on that? You, me, and your father?" Derek asked.

"And everyone else?"

"Chris and Adam are going to go elsewhere to stay with Jackson and Isaac. Danny's going with Isaac."

"They don't have to," Stiles said.

"Stiles, right now, this is your home, and everyone downstairs gets that too many people just overwhelmed you."

Stiles opened his mouth, but Derek glared at him.

"And everyone understands that you can normally deal with that, but you can't right now. They all understand."

"You brought Jackson back; why?"

"Well, Cora told me a few things, and really out of everyone in the Pack, he's the only one who can help you."

Stiles shrugged and took a sip of his milkshake. He was getting full, and he had only drunk about half. He handed it over to Derek. Derek's was already gone, so he just started to drink Stiles'.

"I've missed you, Mischief," Jackson said from behind Stiles.

Stiles didn't turn around; he just stayed in the chair. He tucked his feet up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He listened to the sound of Jackson's feet as he walked across the room to sit on the bed beside Derek. Danny was there as well and sat down beside Jackson.

Ducking his head, Stiles looked away from them. He felt someone moving closer, so he closed his eyes. He knew it was Jackson as soon as the touch was on his head. Fingers scratched, and Stiles shook his head, but Jackson persisted like he had always had after Stiles' mom died. All of the emotions were piling up inside of him again. He had already purged once, but it seemed he had more. It only took a few more seconds before Stiles launched himself at Jackson. The hybrid was able to hold them up for the time it took for Jackson to get his feet under him, and then they were moving to the bed.

Jackson laid them down, and there was movement around until Stiles felt someone behind him, and then another person was on Jackson's side with their hand on Stiles' neck. Danny. That one had to be Danny. Which meant that Derek was stretched out along Stiles' back.

Stiles cried until he had nothing left. Until he felt like he was on a ledge, going over wasn't that scary for once.

* * *

Derek watched Peter as he laid out his presents under the tree. It was just after midnight, so it truly was Christmas. Derek gripped his cup of hot chocolate and took a sip of it. He heard the door to the loft open and turned back to see that it was Noah. He was constant enough that Derek didn't startle when he came up to the loft anymore.

"How are you boys doing?" Noah asked as he hung up his work jacket on the rack beside the door. His shoes were kicked off next. His gun into the safe that was by the door. It was the best spot for it as it also held all of the knives for the kitchen inside of there. Derek offered to get a safe for his room, but Noah had waved that off.

"Good. How was your shift?" Derek asked.

"Boring, which is a good thing this time of year. No tree fires yet. The fire department hasn't started a drinking challenge for the off-duty guys yet either because of them."

Peter snorted at that.

"Who is here?" Noah asked.

"Jackson and Danny are in bed with Stiles. Cora's in her room with Isaac. Chris and Adam are still kipping in the place below, but we got them hooked up to our power, so they have heat and such. I'm sure they will be up here for breakfast. Peter's got the ham in the oven already as we eat it for breakfast and then have a turkey for dinner. There are enough hungry people here that I am not sure I got enough ham."

Noah chuckled and headed into the kitchen. He came out with a glass of milk and a few of the cookies. "How did he sleep?"

"He's sleeping well. Having them around is helping him."

"Stiles changed a lot after his mother's death. He shucked off people I thought he never would and then latched onto Scott. I assumed that Jackson and Danny had done something, but now I just wonder what Stiles was thinking."

"Scott was new. He didn't know him and was in the same grade as him. Jackson and Danny were friends just because of Jackson and you and David working together on things. Scott didn't know him so he could hide more from him," Derek said.

"Speaking from experience?"

"It was easier in New York for me. No one knew me, and while they knew that my family was dead and I was being raised by my sister, they didn't know more than that. It's why Laura and I left here. She had college there, and it was just easier. I'm sure that her college would have worked something out with her transferring to another school, given what happened. But I wasn't going to uproot her out of her life like that."

Derek heard Stiles' heartbeat picking up. He wasn't having a nightmare but was just waking up. "Incoming."

Noah stuffed the last cookie in his mouth the whole way and chewed before washing it down with half of the milk. According to him, he thankfully didn't dunk his cookies anymore, not after too many times being caught with crumbs in the bottom.

Stiles stumbled down the stairs, kind of bouncing to the left and right, depending on which side he hit. He looked adorable to Derek. He was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He wasn't sleeping well, but he did sleep for at least a few hours at a time and then would be up for a while and then nap for another few hours. He was getting around eight hours a day of sleep, just not in one go.

Derek watched as Stiles made a beeline for them and surprised him by not sitting down beside his father on the other couch but dropping down with Derek where he was and cuddling into him. Derek wrapped his arm around Stiles and held onto him tightly. Stiles went limp on him.

"Merry Christmas," Stiles said. He looked at the mug that was in Derek's hand and made an interested noise toward it.

Derek showed him that it was just hot chocolate. Stiles turned his nose up at it.

"Tea?" Peter asked.

"Please." The scent coming off of Stiles was content. It wasn't nightmares that woke him up, just his body telling him it was time.

Derek hoped that they would get him to where he was sleeping all night long with time, but there was no rushing it. It was another side effect of the TBI on him.

Derek listened as Peter filled the kettle and then set about picking tea for him and Stiles to drink.

"Dad, go to bed so I can wake you up in a few hours by jumping on your bed."

Noah laughed and finished off his milk. He stood up and walked over to where they were and ruffled Stiles' hair. It was growing out again, which was good. Derek liked the buzzcut, but he really liked this as well.

"I would say you are too old, but you did it last year."

Stiles stuck his tongue out at his father as he headed into the kitchen. Peter and he talked for a few, low enough to where Stiles couldn't hear.

Derek looked at Stiles' face to see that he was engrossed in looking at the tree. Derek had found him sitting in the middle of the living room area staring at the tree before. The lights were all off except for what was on the tree and the strings of lights that Cora had hung up around the room so that they could be on and give off low light. It was pretty in there. A place that Derek was happy to call home. It wasn't big enough for the Pack, though, as it seemed that Jackson was staying. Chris and Isaac hadn't chosen yet, but Derek was sure that Isaac wanted to stay but didn't know how to tell Chris that. They had a little time away from Beacon Hills, enough to regroup, but Derek felt the pull from Isaac.

"What is going on in that head of yours?" Derek asked.

"Hmm, just enjoying being alive," Stiles said.

Derek hummed at him and squeezed his hand on Stiles' shoulder. The last week had been rough but better in many ways. Stiles was willing to come down and eat meals, but he still spent most of his time up in the bedroom. Everyone was allowed up there as long as it was a group no bigger than three. More than three seemed to freak out Stiles. If he was down in the living room, larger groups were okay as long as only Stiles and one other person were on the couch.

"Did Peter get everything you wanted to get people as gifts?" Derek asked.

"Yes. He was even good during the whole thing. I got all that I wanted except for one thing, but it was on backorder, so it will come in later, hopefully, next week."

"Actually, I picked it up on my way home today. Someone else canceled their order for the item, and since you were so tragically injured and unable to shop until late, the shop owner filled yours."

Derek translated that to Peter had told the show owner that he wanted that one to be filled and money probably changed hands if anyone canceled.

"Keep on being you, Creeperwolf," Stiles said. He turned a little to where he could hold a cup of tea with both hands as Peter rounded the couch with two in his hands. He handed one to Stiles and then sat down at the other end with his own. It smelled like one of the teas that Peter used to make to help them all sleep.

"Do you plan on staying awake until you wake up your father?"

"Nah, was just gonna cuddle down here and look at the tree before convincing Derek to go to bed. Jackson and Danny are cuddled around each other in there. I wouldn't be shocked if they just stayed like that. maybe I'll join Derek in his bed since mine is occupied." Stiles lifted the cup up and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the tea. "Sleepy tea."

"Yes, I don't want a grouchy Stiles on Christmas Day."

Stiles grumbled a little, but it was all in jest. Derek could smell how happy he was right then. It was the happiest that he had smelled all week.

"Any new nightmares?" Derek asked. It had been a few days since he had asked.

"Just the same old ones. They are getting better, though, with talking with Grady."

"I'm glad you like Grady. He's different."

"Yeah, but he gets me. He understands where I am coming from, and he's smart enough that I don't talk circles around him." Stiles took a long drink of his tea.

"You had issues with that before?"

"I mean, I was younger, and I thought I was winning something, but yeah. Dad put me in therapy after mom died. I thought it was fun and games to get things over the girl who I was talking to. I really didn't get a whole bunch out of it, though, and I think it's a lot of why I'm not doing well right now."

"You were a kid, and if you could talk around the therapist then, she obviously wasn't going to be able to actually help you deal with your trauma."

"I think I also like that Grady is over a computer. I mean, I know that he can't see all of my little tics and behaviors and that he's coming to town next month, but he's not here right now, and I can get used to him in a private setting before he's here and I can't escape him."

"Well, it's not like you can right now anyway." Peter glared at Stiles.

"Well, no, but I can easily hide how I am really feeling by changing the camera angle."

Derek looked at Peter, and he saw a bit of pride there. Everyone was talking to Grady at the moment, in little bits here and there. Small sessions for almost everyone and then Stiles as the main focus. He was finishing up with a Pack in South America at the moment and then would head up to them. Stiles' Aunt had easily found a good person for Stiles to talk to. The man was smart as a whip, and Peter hated him. Peter talked to him, but the man saw through most of Peter's dodges. It was quite a bit of fun for Derek to see Peter so pissed off. Though that also meant that Grady saw right through Derek as well.

Grady was human but raised in the Pack that Kais was the Alpha of. He was a little bit of a wanderer, so he moved around to Packs that needed him for therapy after losing an Alpha in a horrific way or something like what had happened to Stiles.

Celeste was footing the entire bill. She wasn't even entertaining the thought of not doing it. She considered what happened to the Hale Pack and everything after it her responsibility. Though Derek was sure that Chris was also paying her part of it as part of his reparations for everything his family had done.

"Ready for Christmas?" Derek asked.

"Yes." Stiles yawned and stretched his feet out like he was stretching, but he kept on poking Peter with his feet.

The look on Peter's face had Derek taking the cup of tea from Stiles.

"Hey!" Stiles yelled. He tried to turn and take the cup, but as soon as he did, Peter tugged him down to where Stiles was lying with his head in Derek's lap and his feet in Peter's.

Stiles' cup was already over half gone, so Derek handed it back down to him. Stiles glared at Peter but didn't move. He rolled to his side, though, and took a drink of his tea. He laid back for a second and then just finished off his tea. He set the mug down before curling to settle on the couch better.

Derek turned on the TV and found something slightly mindless that would not keep Stiles awake. Derek had learned that one the hard way. Star Wars was on, so Derek settled on it. Stiles would fall asleep to it even though he loved it. Peter lifted up Stiles' pants leg; he was still in his sleep pants, so it wasn't like he was doing something weird. Peter's hand showed black lines just for a second before stopping. Derek nodded his head and was glad that Stiles' legs weren't hurting him really anymore. 

Stiles had cut only once in the last week. Derek learned that Stiles was good at making shivs, which was something that he thought he could have gone his whole life without knowing. Still, it had shown them that he was going to hurt himself if he wanted, which Derek had known, but others really hadn't. He wasn't scratching himself during his night terrors anymore. The first time Stiles had woke up everyone with his screaming, it had left everyone unable to sleep. 

"Turn it down," Stiles said after a few minutes.

Derek did, and when he set the remote down, he started to card his fingers through Stiles' hair. It was a newly acquired method of putting him to sleep. The Sheriff had shared it with them. Stiles closed his eyes just a few minutes into it, and then his body just relaxed into them.

"Were you going to get any sleep?" Peter asked.

"I can do it here. I've gotten used to it. I'll go on a run just after he wakes up. Troll him a little to make him wait. Are all the gifts down here?"

"Yes. I wrapped the one that I picked up today. I know who he wanted to get it for. I was hoping to surprise him, but he smelled downtrodden." 

Derek looked down at Stiles to see that he was fully asleep; the brow of his head was relaxed, and it was the only time that it was. He cast his hearing around to check on everyone. They were all asleep and well onto it. Derek wondered what was going on with Cora and Isaac. They had bonded, and Derek wasn't sure that he liked that. Cora was so nearly grown, but to him, she was still the kid she had been the last time he had seen her before the fire. Throwing a fit because she couldn't go to the game with Derek and Laura. Derek had never asked her how she survived. 

"I'm going to get a little more sleep. Do you need anything?" Peter's hand came out from under Stiles' pants leg, and Derek figured that he had been rubbing his leg or even scratching it. Touching was something that Stiles liked, but only if he knew it was coming unless you were his father or a Hale. Cora, Peter, and Derek could surprise touch him, and he didn't freak out. 

"No, I'm good. I've got a bottle of water beside me. I napped most of the day after last night."

Peter nodded and moved to get his body out from under Stiles' legs. Stiles didn't even twitch at all. It was something that Derek was glad of. 

"Night," Derek called out softly. Peter just raised a hand and waved it. 

* * *

The smell of food tickled Stiles' nose. He groaned and stretched, hitting something. He looked to see that it was Derek who was sitting on the couch. Stiles groaned. He had fallen asleep on the couch with Derek again. He didn't mind it all that much, but he had missed going up to wake his father up if he was smelling food.

"He's not awake yet, but his breathing is changing. If you go now, you might beat him," Derek said.

"Thanks." Stiles rolled off of the couch, his body aching a little but not as bad as it could have been. He assumed that Derek had drained some of his pain or something from sleeping as he had been. He made sure to stretch as he walked to the stairs to head up and wake up his father. He found that Cora and Isaac were still asleep, and while Jackson and Danny were up, they were just lying in bed chatting. It looked like Derek's bed had been used by Peter, given its state and the book that was lying on the pillow. 

Stiles opened up his father's door and looked at him. He looked better than he had in a long time. He didn't look as stressed, even as he slept. It was good to see that. He knew that he hadn't helped over the last near year, but this was better. Being around Derek's Pack, Derek and Peter helping to take care of Stiles so that his father could just focus on his job. 

Just like every single time that Stiles had gone into his father's bedroom, he was asleep on the side of the bed closest to the door. Even though he had the whole bed, he slept on the same side, the other being open for Stiles' mother. It had broken Stiles' heart when he had realized that his father still did it after all of these years. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but just like him always wearing his ring, it was enough. Stiles didn't want his father to be alone for the rest of his life, but he loved the devotion to his mother. 

Stiles walked around the bed to the end and then jumped and landed beside his father. Before, it had been him landing in the middle between them. It had been that way since Stiles was a kid, and until the day that he couldn't anymore, he was going to do it if he was home during Christmas.

"Stiles, must you?" Noah asked.

"Yes. Always, yes." 

Noah laughed, and he rolled over. Stiles smiled at him and scooted up the bed. He stopped, though, when he smelled the pillow. He narrowed his eyes. 

"The bed was a distraction," Stiles said.

"What?"

"Peter mussed up Derek's bed, but I know he was here. I know the smell of his aftershave. So...really?"

"Not like that, no. He misses having Pack to sleep with that aren't teenagers. He finds it a little...wrong given that he knows so few of them that well. If he can't sleep, he slips into bed with me. He did with Cora before Isaac started to stay over. It's not like that at all, Stiles."

"Sure," Stiles said. He grinned, though, as he said it. "Come on, Daddio. I wanna give you a present before everyone else wakes up." Stiles slipped off of the bed and headed to the bedroom. He had been outside shopping just once since all of this. He had to go to a check-up at the hospital, so he had asked Peter to take him to a store. It was a place where Stiles had been a lot as a kid, but he hadn't been back after that. He had gone back just once after his mother died, and that was to tell her to hold onto the present that he had bought for his mom and Dad using all of his allowances.

The present was right where he had left it in his dresser. He tugged it out and closed it before heading back across. Jackson and Danny were still chatting away on the bed but had waved their greeting when Stiles had entered the room. 

"Stiles," Noah said. He held out his arms, and despite the fact that he was closer to an adult than a child, Stiles climbed up onto the bed and into his father's lap. He hugged him tightly, laying his head on his shoulder and just enjoying being in his father's arms. The present was on the bed. 

Stiles waited until his father started to let him go to slip off of his lap and then settle on the bed. He picked up the present and heard Noah inhale. The wrapping paper was old as hell, faded in a few spots, ripped in a few others, but Stiles had felt so good about slipping out of the house with the roll of it before getting it back so that his father hadn't seen. The presents that Christmas had been wrapped in it, by Noah instead of Claudia. And that was the end of that roll. 

"How?" Noah asked.

"This is actually pretty old. I had the frame custom made, and then I got the wrapping paper out of the house and then back into the house after Miss Carmichael wrapped it. She's been holding onto it for a long time, and I knew that this year I could do it." 

Noah slowly unwrapped the present, tearing at the tape that was brittle and gave without tearing the paper too much. Stiles had a feeling it was going to be saved. The paper fell away onto the bed, and then there was the picture frame. It was etched in what Stiles now knew was the Gajos family symbol. He had seen it on some of his mother's things and fell in love as a kid. He had designed the frame, drawing out in his way what he wanted, and Miss Carmichael had helped him turn it into this. It was a picture taken by someone on Stiles' last birthday before his mother had died. After it was well known that she was sick, someone had printed it out and given it to them. Stiles had taken it and was going to give it to his mother for Christmas for her in the hospital, but she hadn't made it that long. 

"I wondered what happened to this picture," Noah said.

"Yeah, it's been MIA for a long time, but it's time for it to come home now." 

"The frame is beautiful. Did you design it? I kind of remember seeing something like this doodled on paper a few times when you were in the hospital visiting your mother for longer periods. I didn't realize that you were doing this. I love it, Stiles."

"I'm glad. I really didn't want to give it to you before now. I don't know why. I would drive past there nearly every day after I got my license, and it was close to Christmas before that I walked that way. I had Peter take me after my last appointment. It's the only thing I really wanted to give you." 

Noah reached over, settled the frame onto the nightstand, and then pulled Stiles to him again to hug him. 

"Breakfast," Derek said from the door a while later. 

Stiles wiped at the tears in his eyes and then nodded his head before he got up. 

"I'm gonna wash up and then be down," Noah said. 

Stiles nodded and followed Derek down to the first floor. He stopped halfway down, though. Stiles was about to ask what when Derek turned and pulled Stiles into a hug. Derek hugged him tightly. Letting himself enjoy it, Stiles didn't pull out of the hug first for once. He made Derek be the one to do that. It actually took longer than Stiles thought for him to do it, and it was only when even Stiles heard his father moving around that Derek let him go. 

Nothing was said as they entered the kitchen. It was always buffet-style on food. The island that had been built up one day while Stiles had slept was covered in food, and there wasn't enough room for anyone. Stiles knew that Peter had done most of the prep for this and Christmas dinner the day before, but he was surprised by how much there was. 

Stiles only got a little bit of each thing, especially the sweet stuff. He got more ham than anything else, though. He was hungry, but he was still misjudging what he could eat. Thankfully, nobody cared about eating someone else's food, so the food never went to waste. 

"How are you feeling?" Chris asked as he got in line behind Stiles cutting off Peter, who had been behind him to start.

Stiles laughed. "Good. Better but not the best."

"Isaac wants to go back to Beacon Hills. He was doing the work just long-distance, and he's caught up to go back into classes where he had been with the new semester. Unless you don't want that."

"If he wants it, I do. I don't need everyone asking me about that kind of stuff. Have you formally adopted him or something?"

"Something like that. I was made his guardian since his father was dead, and it took that long for people to figure out that he had been without one. Noah helped with that. There were a lot of very pissed off people when they realized that he had gone from wanted for his father's murder to just forgotten."

Stiles nodded. He picked out the last of what he wanted to eat and then headed to the living room. Derek was already on the couch, and Stiles dropped down in the middle. He was glad when his father settled on the other end so that no one could get too close to him. He got comfortable and smiled when Peter carried in a glass of juice for him as well as a cup of tea. Coffee was set down for Noah. Stiles wondered if his father realized yet that Peter was trying to woo him. Stiles was more than okay with that. His father needed someone, and Stiles would be leaving when he graduated high school, for college, at whatever place made him happiest. He wasn't sure where that was going to be yet. 

Danny talked to Isaac about what his family had planned and that Jackson would be going with him there since the family missed him a little bit. Isaac had plans to play video games all day, so Stiles thought that maybe he could get in on that. He and Cora were fierce at Mario Kart, and he wanted to see how well Isaac played it. He was more than happy to just spend the day there, though. He was loving living at the loft. There were horrible memories there, but there was back at home as well. It was picking and choosing what one was more upset at. Derek was okay with the loft now that he had made his peace with what happened with Boyd and Erica. It was a place to be happy again. 

"So, what do you have planned today?" Stiles asked Derek when there was a lull in the conversation.

"I'm going to help Peter get dinner going. Why? What do you have planned?"

"I hoped to take a walk in the Preserve. I didn't know if you want to go with me. I think I want fresh air that's not from a window."

Derek looked at Peter, who nodded his head.

"I'll help Uncle Peter," Cora said.

"Great. Then that's great." Stiles blushed as he looked down at his food. He snagged a piece of ham and bit into it. It was just sweet enough that it was a good breakfast ham, but it was still ham. Stiles laughed as Cora shoved at Isaac, who fell into Jackson. Jackson scoffed and shoved him back over into Cora. 

"Children," Noah said.

All of the teens turned to look at him. Cora burst out laughing. Isaac was next, and even Danny started to laugh. 

"What is something I said?" Noah asked.

"I think that they are all on a sugar rush," Peter said. 

It was a good morning, Stiles thought as he looked at everyone. It wasn't the best morning, but it was a good one. He leaned over into Derek and grinned as he listened to Isaac and Cora bickering.

* * *

Derek wasn't sure what woke him up, but it wasn't anything that he needed to worry about. Then cold feet were pressed to his legs, and a chilled body was pressing to him. Derek grunted and started to rub his hand up and down Stiles' arm, warming him up. Stiles must have been on the balcony that was off of Derek and his room. He hadn't heard the door open, so Stiles hadn't gone down to the lower floor's balcony. 

"You need sleep," Derek said.

"I know." Stiles' cold nose was pressed to his neck next. He had been outside for way too long.

Derek started to pull the blankets up further with his other hand and heard Stiles let out the sharp exhale. He had fallen asleep easily when it had been bedtime. Derek looked at the clock on the wall, the small glowing hands telling him that it was just after midnight. Stiles had to be up in just under six hours to get ready for the first day of classes. Stiles had been going crazy since New Year's Day about getting back to school in person. He had finished all of his work; Isaac, Jackson, and Cora were all caught up as well. Danny was the only one who had gone to school through all of it. Derek wasn't sure what their plans were as they didn't discuss it where Peter or Derek could hear it. 

"Need something?" Derek asked.

"Just this." Stiles flopped his arm over Derek's chest. 

This had been building slowly since Christmas, and Derek knew that everyone involved in this knew it was happening. He was pretty sure that Adam had been reporting back to Celeste about it as well. Derek didn't mind on that one at all. He would never want Celeste to think that he was taking advantage of Stiles. There hadn't been anything between them other than cuddles, but Derek was pretty sure that soon Stiles wouldn't be happy with that. Derek wasn't going to disrespect Stiles' father by letting anything happen before Stiles was eighteen, though, nothing more than light touches and kisses. There might be light petting, but he wasn't going to draw a line. Stiles would respect that as well. 

Derek knew that Stiles knew pretty much everything that had happened with Kate. Derek still wasn't sure how he knew it all, but Stiles and his information gathering were interesting and usually correct. 

"I can nap when I get back here after school. Jackson's driving the Porsche to school. Don't even ask me where he had been storing it. Danny is driving the Jeep back here after school. We are all coming back here after lacrosse tryouts since we are all trying to get onto the team." Stiles plucked at a bit of fluff on Derek's shirt and then just kept moving around picking at nothing.

"Are you ready for that?" Derek asked.

"Not really, but Jackson says that I am. Cora's gonna try out, but you knew that."

"Yes, I had to sign the slip to allow her to take part in it. Isaac said he's going out for it again as well. Jackson and Danny are a shoo-in."

"Coach will let me. Even if I'm not as good as Jackson thinks."

"You've gotten better. The whole not freaking out really helps."

Stiles shoved at Derek's chest before he moved to get comfortable. He tipped his head to rest on Derek's chest, looking at him with the blankets mostly over his head. He looked adorable to Derek, and the urge to drop a kiss on his lips was strong, but Derek held back. Everything was at Stiles' pace, everything.

"Yeah, Dad said that when I got used to actually playing, the nerves would go away. I don't know. I mean, I guess that kind of happened last spring, but now I'm afraid of stepping onto the pitch and freezing up after Gerard kidnapped me."

"Do you want me there?"

"Creeping in the woods, like you used to do, Scott? No. Actually sitting in the stands, yeah." 

"I'll sit in the stands, but if a high school girl hits on me, you'll be making that up in suicides after tryouts." 

"I can't stop that from happening." Stiles dug his chin down into Derek's chest to prove a point. 

Derek dropped his hand from Stiles' arm that was more than warm enough down to his side, where he knew Stiles had a ticklish spot. He dug in and danced his fingers around.

Stiles started to jerk to get away, but Derek held him in place. "No fair using wolfy strength," Stiles said.

"All's fair when it comes to you."

"Point." Stiles didn't relax until Derek had his hand on his back. Stiles sighed and yawned. Despite the few moments of wiggling, Stiles still looked like he was seconds from dropping off into sleep. He turned his head from where his chin was digging into Derek until his cheek lay on his chest. "What are we?" 

"Like you and me or the Pack?"

"I know I'm Pack." Stiles pulled on the thread between them, the very strong Pack bond that had been built between them on Christmas day. Stiles' magic allowed him to touch it more than the one Derek had with his father. It was good though, Derek wasn't sure that Noah wanted that type of connection. Derek knew where he was, a feeling of a direction more than a beacon telling him, and he knew roughly how he was doing. Noah had none of that from him, though, which was good. Peter was training the rest of the Pack to dull the deeper feelings that went across the bond. Derek had been kind of born with it. All born wolves learned that kind of stuff when they were babies, which was good considering that even feelings of love and arousal transferred down the bonds.

"So you and me?"

"Don't look like it's the worst thing in the world," Stiles said. He started to scoot down the bed to get away, but Derek cupped the back of his head and used that to exert gentle pressure to keep Stiles where he was. 

"It's not, but I need to know exactly what you mean, Stiles. I don't want to mess this up."

"Oh, yeah. Okay. I get that. Me and you as in more than Pack, more than friends, like dating."

"Dating is good. We can go on our first date whenever you want as long as school work is done."

"Ugh," Stiles said.

"Don't front, Stiles. School is important to you. School is important to what you want to do in the future, so dates will never happen if you have stuff you need to complete."

"But that's like...I'll always have stuff for some classes that I could be working on. The English teacher I have likes to just constantly give out long projects."

"And that's fine. Those won't count. It's not like you won't get them done. I mean, like you have something due the next day."

"Ah. Okay. Yeah. That can work." 

"And clothes will be staying on. I know that neither of us sleeps in much, but we will be putting on clothes or keeping sheets between us if things turn a little hot. I won't do that."

"Dude, I am nowhere near ready for sex. Like the thought of you touching me that way makes me wanna run screaming into Dad's bed, or Peter's. Peter seems like he'd claw the shit out of anyone going after any of us, even if it's just you for cuddling sex."

Derek laughed and shook his head. He pressed a kiss to Stiles' forehead, hearing the sigh that Stiles let out with it. He tried not to inhale too deep when Stiles' scent changed from slightly manic to content. It was a good scent on him, though, so Derek enjoyed that. Stiles snorted at the sound of Derek inhaling again, but he said nothing. Stiles and his father were both adapting well to living with them.

"So, since you are awake, Peter had a thought last night."

"Yeah?"

"Chris is looking to buy a house, and he found one that he likes that is next door to you and your father's house."

"Yeah, it's been on the market for a while. There is something about selling a house that is next door to the Sheriff that makes people not want to buy it."

"Well, this loft is too small for everyone. Jackson is staying with Chris as his parents love London and don't want to come back right yet. The house would be good for them."

"There is an empty guest room on the second floor of the house, and the basement is...large and mostly unused. Mom's stuff is in her craft room. Dad has his office, and that I am sure he wouldn't mind sharing with Peter whatever he does. The basement would take a little work to get going, but Dad's office has a pull-out couch in it. And I'm sure that Cora won't mind you kipping with her, or you can sleep on the floor in my room if that's something you need."

"I'll talk to Peter. He was actually thinking of staying with Chris once he gets into the place. I guess it's move-in ready?"

"Yeah, everything was left. He doesn't want to live with us?"

"While things are getting set up mainly. Cora is happy wherever we end up. But space is an issue. It's not like I can't get the crews out to take care of the basement and making it livable. Cora might like it better down there, and then I can take over the guest room. So just for a short time."

"Or we can all stay here while that is going on," Stiles said.

Derek heard Stiles' heart hammering a little at the thought of not being around everyone. Derek could understand that. Chris and Adam were comfortable in the place below for sleeping. Everyone was happy with what they had, but a house sounded really nice to Derek, and right now, Noah and Stiles were happy not giving up their house. Too many good memories and only a little bad. Unlike the old house, Derek had grown up in. If he rebuilt, it was going to be in a different place, and he would make it nothing like the house he had grown up in. Maybe that was something to discuss. The Stilinski house could be kept to house visitors in or the loft, or both. He would talk to Chris about that as he wasn't sure that the man wanted to live with them. If he didn't, he might be happier living here instead of a large house. 

"We can. I'll talk to your father, Chris, and Peter more about things. You gave me a few ideas. I'll see what they all think. I think your father is kind of happy to have more people around."

"And you like it cause it's closer to how you grew up. I've noticed you are different. Calmer and just...different."

"Part of that was dealing with the Alpha Pack. They are gone; I can teach the Betas better. I feel bad that I turned into such a drill sergeant with training with the three, but..."

"It's how Laura trained you. The memories of your mother were buried down deep, and you went with what you knew, which wasn't the best." Stiles moved, shifting to where he was lying in a better position to fall asleep. The scent of him was changing as he slowly slipped into sleep. 

Derek would have been a little more shocked, but he had seen Stiles falling asleep while eating a few times. His nerves had probably caused him to not sleep at all before this. Which was also why he was probably outside. Being outside alone was one of his favorite things over the past week. He was enjoying the cold in a way he never had before, according to him. Derek always kept an ear on him. Stiles had been driving some over the last week, but he wasn't cleared to drive without an adult in the car. The last doctor's visit had him recovering well enough from the TBI, but he didn't go driving unless Derek or his father was with him. 

"How is he?" Noah asked as he leaned in the doorway. He was dressed in his sleep clothes, and he looked like he was gotten up just to check on Stiles.

"Good. Sleeping now. He was outside."

"Yeah, Peter was keeping an eye on him when he went out there. He dropped off to sleep again when Stiles came inside. I'm still shocked by him being able to do that."

"It was learned over years of Cora and me growing up. Spencer was shaping up to be like us as well. Laura was a good kid. Mother constantly said that I warped her womb," Derek said.

Stiles made a noise and grunted before settling down again.

"How scared is he?" Noah asked.

"I'm not that sure, actually. He seems pretty damned calm, but I won't know until he's fully awake. For right now, he's good. He's slipping into sleep further. He'll get a few good hours of sleep."

"I'll make sure the others are up early, and he can sleep in some, get the last shower before heading out. Peter will make sure that he gets food. I'll call up when it's time for him to get up."

"You are just going to leave me with him like this?" Derek asked.

"You...well, you didn't break it, but you still bought it. You put him back together, and now you get to deal with that." Noah was grinning as he said it, though. 

Derek wasn't going to flip off the Sheriff, even if he wanted to. He wasn't going to do it. Even if the urge was there. He looked to the side to see that Danny and Jackson were still asleep. Danny had said that his parents didn't mind him staying here since he had missed Jackson so much. Derek wondered if Danny wasn't a little in love with Jackson. Derek wasn't sure about that as he didn't know either of them well enough, but he knew that there was something. Jackson was protective as hell of Danny. Jackson had changed a lot even after a short time in London. The Pack that Derek had found for him seemed to have done well by him. He was grounded and acted better than most bitten wolves that Derek knew. 

Jackson was still a pompous asshole, but he was better around the Pack. The bond that had been there between him and Derek had stretched but never broke. It had confused the hell out of Derek after the teenager had left Beacon Hills, but it told him that Jackson felt some kind of bond with him and the rest of the Pack. Though, Derek wondered if he had been called back to the States if that would have broken when he settled into the Pack in London. 

Derek was having Peter research anything and everything they needed to know about the Werewolf/Kanima hybrid that he was. While the access to Kanima venom was nice, Derek didn't want to have issues down the road with him. He wanted to make sure that his Pack was settled and happy.

Closing his eyes, Derek hoped that he was able to get a few hours of sleep before chaos descended on the loft as all of the teenagers tried to get ready for school at the same time. 

* * *

Stiles tapped his fingers on his leg as he looked into the side mirror at the traffic behind them as they pulled into the school. Jackson was in front with Isaac with him. Isaac didn't have his license yet, but Chris was working on that. Cora was also working on hers with Peter. So until they got theirs, it was going to be Jackson or Danny driving everyone to school. Stiles knew that his ability to drive was going to be based on his brain over the next few months. He still had a few lingering issues from his TBI that made it impossible for him to drive alone. He had passed his father's tests for driving, though, so he didn't need to retake anything to learn how to drive again. He would have to retake the tests when it was time, but that was fine with him. He hadn't forgotten how to parallel park or anything like that. 

"Okay?" Cora asked. 

"Yeah. I'm okay. I think," Stiles said.

"Well, don't throw up," Danny said. 

"I won't." Stiles laid his hand on his thigh instead of tapping. He laid his hand over the scars. He hadn't cut in nearly a week, and the urge was there, but it was less. It was less than it had ever been. He didn't know what to do with that, really. Cutting had been at the back of Stiles' mind for a long time. Since he had stopped to make sure that his father never found out about it. He knew that he was slowly healing, but he wasn't sure that when things went wrong, the first idea he had wasn't going to be cutting. He wished that things would change, but he wasn't sure about that. 

Stiles looked up as Danny parked the Jeep right beside where Jackson was. On the other side was some random senior that Stiles was pretty sure had glared at Jackson for parking where he did. That is until Jackson got out and put his sunglasses on. He looked like a douche again. 

Cora poked Stiles to get him to move. He groaned and did so, opening the Jeep door and slipping out. Danny had wanted to drive the Jeep, and Stiles still wasn't sure the reasoning behind it. He had been all for making Peter take him to and from school. He was pretty sure that Peter would have done it too. There was something being said about Danny driving Stiles' Jeep and taking them to school.

"Stiles!" Scott called out. 

"Sorry, we are late," Jackson said, and he wrapped an arm around Stiles and turned them to head into the school. 

Stiles looked back at Scott to see him looking at them with a frown on his face. Stiles ignored it for now. They would be late given that Stiles had been woken up so late and had a little freak out before leaving. No one was upset at him about it. It was halfway like Jackson had got a personality transplant. 

"Hey," Kira said as they passed her. 

"Hey, Kira. Gotta go! You don't want to be late, either." Stiles laughed when she giggled at him for that as he turned and looked at her. 

The morning classes were all pretty easy, and even when he was in Chemistry, even though Harris wasn't in there, the memories of it all just washed over him. He pressed his hand to his scars. 

Lunch was interesting as Jackson and Danny both pulled him along to where they were going to be sitting. The rest of the lacrosse people were there, and Scott seemed to be frozen across the lunchroom just looking at them. 

"Stiles," Lydia said as she stepped up to the table. She looked as perfectly put together as she always had before, but her eyes were hurt. 

"Lydia," Stiles said. 

Lydia looked at Danny and Jackson. She smiled at Danny and then looked at Jackson. "Jackson, when did you get back?"

"Before Christmas. Was dealing with a few family issues."

"Family?" Lydia looked worried.

"Yeah, it's mostly taken care of. Did you want to sit with us?"

"Scott says that Stiles is hanging around Peter."

"Well, Peter's part of the family, so yes. He's been good for Stiles after his accident. He's been able to be around and help support Stiles so that his father can work." Danny popped a fry in his mouth after he said that. 

"Accident?" Lydia asked.

"Oh, you mean Scott didn't tell you about Stiles' TBI?" Cora asked as she sat down and handed over a tray of food to Stiles. 

Stiles looked at his food and saw that it was the kind of stuff he liked. He wasn't even sure who had paid for it. For all he knew, Cora had money from Derek to pay for his and all of the Pack's food. Isaac sat down next. He had a single tray of food. Stiles wondered how Jackson had got his food, but then he realized that Isaac had probably done it. He was in the class closest to the cafeteria and therefore was able to get there quickly. 

"Thanks, Cora, Isaac," Stiles said. 

Lydia sat down in front of Stiles. Stiles looked to see that Cora was in front of Jackson and Isaac in front of Danny. It left her a place that was perfect for Lydia. 

"TBI?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah, that's why I missed school. I was run off the road."

"And you are better?"

"So far. I'm allowed to try out for lacrosse, but I have to be careful and wear my helmet. He also wants me in the goal."

"Really?" Lydia asked.

"I guess I'm healing faster than normal?"

"Did you..." Lydia bared her teeth.

"No. But I have magic. Peter thinks that it's helping me heal, that, and the Pack bond." Stiles spoke low when he did on that just in case anyone heard him. Danny laughed, and Stiles flipped him off. 

"Scott's barely talked to me since everything. What is going on?" Lydia asked.

"Let's talk about that after school and before tryouts." 

"Sure," Lydia said. She glared at Jackson until he looked at her. 

Stiles laughed at that. He knew that Lydia still loved him. Stiles had no clue how Jackson felt about her. He wasn't sure how he felt about anything really, but he really wanted to see Derek at the moment, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. 

"Hey, what's that guy doing?" someone said close to where they were. 

Stiles looked to who was talking to see it was a freshman, or at least he thought it was a freshman. He then looked outside to see that Derek was sitting on the hood of the Camaro. He hadn't seen it in a while as he had been driving his SUV more than anything. 

Derek was in the lot that was closest to the cafeteria. There were a few people who were sitting outside and talking instead of eating. Stiles grabbed a few of his fries and then headed out the door. He knew that someone was behind him. 

"What are you doing here, loser?" Cora asked. 

"Well, I was talking with Noah about a few things, and I realized that I hadn't asked Stiles what he thought about me getting a job."

"A job? Like a real-life nine to five job?" Stiles asked.

"Well, not that kind of job, no." Derek held out a packet of papers as he slipped his phone into his pocket. 

Stiles figured he had been about to text Stiles when he heard them heading toward him. Stiles took the papers, and he knew exactly what it was. "Seriously?"

"He thinks it's a good idea."

"What?" Cora asked.

"No, that's great, then you can protect him!" Stiles said.

"Fucking hell Peter." 

"What?" Cora asked.

"Peter said it was going to be the first words out of his mouth. I owe him twenty bucks."

Stiles laughed, and he rushed the space between them, throwing his arms around Derek's neck and kissing him. It wasn't until he was pulling back that he realized that they really hadn't done that yet. Derek had kissed his cheek on the way out the door that morning, but that had been it. 

"Oh," Stiles said. He tried to back up, but Derek's hands were on his hips. Derek ducked in and pressed his lips to Stiles'. It felt good better than the last kiss that Stiles had. He pushed those memories away, the scattered bits that the Nogitsune let him remember of the stuff in the basement, but thankfully they hadn't done anything more than making out. 

"Gross," Cora said.

"Ugh, the smell," Jackson said. 

Stiles didn't look back at them but stayed focus on Derek. They were leaning against the Camaro. It was like every single teenage fantasy that Stiles should have had instead of the ones of Lydia. 

"You need to go to eat. I thought that maybe having the school talking about the hot boyfriend was better than anything else."

"We haven't even gone on a date yet."

"No, but we will tonight. I got permission to take you out from your father. So I plan to pick you up after tryouts. So shower before leaving the locker room. What you are wearing is fine for the date."

"Tonight?" Stiles asked. "What if I had plans?"

"To study is the only plans you have, and I'm sure you can get that done before the end of the day if you are motivated."

"I hate you." Stiles turned to leave, but Derek caught him and pulled him back in by the arm. He kissed him, no more than a simple press of lips, but it was good to Stiles.

"Now go and let the school talk about your suspected murderer boyfriend."

"I'm going to have trouble focusing all day because of you."

"Go. eat." Derek mimed shoving food in his face, smiling as he did. 

Stiles laughed but stumbled away from Derek. He looked to see a lot of kids looking at him from the windows, and there was Scott, looking as well. He looked pissed off. Jackson and Cora didn't let Scott get anywhere near him during lunch. Stiles ate as much as he could, but he still wasn't eating a lot in one go. Peter had packed a few bars into his backpack so that he could snack when he got hungry between classes. 

Stiles packed up his bag when the last bell rang and headed out toward where the field was. He wasn't dressed yet, but he would after he got his little bit of homework done that was due the next day. He was prepared to sit on the stands and work on his homework until it was time for tryouts. 

"Stiles," Scott said a little while later. 

Stiles looked up to see that Jackson and Danny were on the field, warming up with Isaac and Cora. It was still early, and Stiles had a few minutes. He packed up his bag and settled in to listen to Scott ranting at him.

"You joined Derek's Pack? You are dating him?" Scott asked.

"Well, yes to the joining his Pack. it wasn't like there was another Pack on offer."

"You are in MY Pack," Scott said. 

"Really? So you oust your Pack members by lying to them about Thanksgiving dinner? We've been doing that since you, and I became friends. Hell, we thought that we would maybe get your mom and my Dad together, and then we could be a big happy family. I was fucking alone after everything, Scott. Derek thought that you were helping me, and I have no clue what you thought. Oh, wait, I do. It was my face that had control of the Onis, so when they killed Allison, you just saw me. You left me alone for something that I couldn't control."

"You could have! Deaton said you had to invite it in."

"And Noshiko, the biggest expert on them, is the one that called it down, and it went into the body of someone who couldn't let it in. No, Scott, I didn't let it in. It took hold of me while my mind was still reeling from nearly dying and trying to find my Dad and the Nemeton. So don't even go there. Deaton was wrong, but instead of talking to me about that, you just left me alone. You left me alone to deal with losing everyone. Yeah, you are hurting over Allison, but she was my friend as well. I lost someone as well, and you don't see me ignoring everyone in my life."

"I wanted to have dinner with Kira's parents."

"And how did that go?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Kira told us that she got pissed at you for not inviting me and my Dad. In fact, when her parents found out afterward, they were very upset, given you know Thanksgiving is a time of family. I guess I am not your family anymore."

"You don't trust me!" Scott said.

"Dude, you lied to me. Kept the fact that Gerard was threatening your mom from me. You had Derek bite Gerard against his will and then never noticed that I was beaten to shit. You never once asked me how I was doing after that."

"You got scared after scoring and just ran away."

"Now Isaac told me that was what you said to try and cover but Scott...what the hell. You know I would never do that. Did you say it enough that night that you made yourself believe it? True Alpha, my fucking ass."

"Bilinski, gear now!" Finstock yelled from the field. 

Stiles looked to where he was standing there with Cora and Isaac. He looked happy, which was something that Stiles was happy about. A happy coach was better than a sad one.

"Whittemore, Lahey, you both missed Cross Country, so you had both better show me all of the good stuff, or you'll be in the lake!" Coach looked at Cora. "Who are you?"

"Cora Hale."

"Didn't you die?" 

"Yes, and this is my ghost wanting to try out for lacrosse." 

Stiles made his way down the bleachers and settled his backpack by Jackson's. He ran toward the lockers to get ready. He wasn't shocked when Scott showed up a few minutes later, but the rest of the guys who wanted to try out were there, so Scott couldn't talk to him. 

Cora was waiting on him when he left the locker rooms. Stiles was happy about that. It meant that Scott stayed away from him when he left. 

"Bilinski, if you don't protect that head, you are benched this whole season. I'll forfeit a game instead of playing you. Got it?"

"Sure thing, Coach." 

Stiles ran toward where Jackson was warming up with a few of the team guys the year before. The guys looked at Stiles, a little shocked until Jackson grabbed his feet and held them while he stretched. 

"Any of you idiots hits him in the head with anything, you will die," Jackson said.

"Got it," the guys said. 

"Chill, Jax," Stiles said. 

"If you get hit in the head, the doctor is going to sideline you. I know that you won't be able to play in games for a little while, but I don't want you on the bench all year long," Jackson said.

"We won't hit you, Stilinski," the one guy said.

Stiles wasn't actually sure what his name was. He wasn't Greenburg, Stiles knew that. 

Tryouts went well. Stiles made sure to not get hit in the head in the goal. He played that position pretty well, and when he was allowed out on the field, Jackson, Isaac, and Cora didn't really hover too much. He played better than he had in a long time. He focused on that and not on Scott. Even if Scott was trying to be noticed by him. 

"McCall, did Stilinski dump you, and that's why you can't take your eyes off of him?" Finstock asked.

Everyone who was trying out laughed at that. 

"Not sure, coach but Stilinski was macking on the guy in the stands."

Stiles turned and looked, and there was Derek, sitting and watching the practice. He wondered if that was why Scott was acting like he couldn't play for a damn. 

"Who is that creeper?" Coach asked.

"That's Stiles' boyfriend, Derek," Cora said.

"Oh, the Hale that didn't die, well other than you." 

Cora even snorted at that. Stiles laughed and then looked to the side to see Peter standing there. He was more in the hidden area beside the bleachers. 

"I see you, Peacock!" Coach yelled.

Stiles wasn't sure who he was talking to, but then he saw that Finstock was looking at Peter. He snorted and tried not to laugh too hard.

"I mean, if Peacock fits anyone, it's him," Danny said as he walked over to where Stiles was with a bottle of water. 

Stiles sighed and took the bottle. Everyone was making sure that he had enough water. He was going to have to go pee before tryouts were over, and Coach would make him run laps for that. He looked to the side to see that a few of the guys were dealing with someone and that Derek was even going over to him. 

"What's going on?"

"New guy, and he's got anger issues. I'm to stay with you while they deal with it."

"Oh, for fucks' sake, what's going over here!" Finstock yelled as he started over to where the small gathering was. 

"Yeah, I'll stay back from that." Stiles was kind of glad for the rest. He was just getting a little relaxed when all of a sudden, Cora was shoved back. He saw the guy who had done it, and he glared at the man. He didn't notice he was moving until he felt an arm around his waist holding him back. He smelled Derek's scent and relaxed.

"He's pissed off at something. Just stop." Derek's tone was soft but worried. 

Cora jumped up and grabbed the guy, and wrestled him to the ground even as he fought to get away from her. 

"What's wrong with him?" Stiles asked.

"Who knows?" Danny said. 

"Out of here!" Coach yelled. 

The young man was screaming and spitting at Coach. 

"Holy shit."

"He's not gonna last long here," Stiles said.

"No, he's not. Jackson's gonna beat his ass until he stops being angry." Danny was glaring at the guy as two of the bigger guys on the team carried him away. 

"So, are we done here?" Jackson asked Coach.

"Yeah. I'll post the team stuff later if I remember." Coach was looking at where the kid was being dragged off. 

"Well, Stiles, let's get you cleaned up," Jackson said as he wrapped an arm around Stiles and pulled him away from Derek. "You can go wait for him at your car like a date should."

"Jackson," Derek said with a growl to his tone.

Stiles just laughed and waved at Derek. He wasn't fully healed, mentally, but he was better. Everything was kind of falling into place, and Stiles wasn't sure what would come, but he had his Pack; he had a family again. He looked at Jackson, the friend he thought he had lost so long ago. To Danny, who hadn't been as nearly as much of an asshole as Jackson over it all. To Derek being someone that Stiles thought that maybe with time, he could fall in love with. Behind him was Cora with Isaac, two people who were broken and healing together. 

Just like Stitch and his family, this is his family. He found it, all on his own. It might be little and broken, but it was still good. Yeah, it was still good.

"Let's get you pretty," Jackson said

"I think that might be something that you aren't supposed to say," Stiles said.

"Eh, who cares?"

"I do!"

Stiles heard Jackson's laughter echo around the halls as they entered the school. Yeah, his family was good.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story! 
> 
> I can be found on MeWe [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot.


End file.
